


Serpent of the World

by LadyMiya



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 18:31:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 92,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2357942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMiya/pseuds/LadyMiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Serpent is stirring. Deep in the ocean, his millennia long slumber is coming to an end. If he wakes up, it will be the end of the world. Only one man can save them. Alas, he has just died.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! New story from me, the honourable, marvellous and all around wholesome Lady Miya. This fic is not like my others. For starters: I don't ship anyone in here. Hermione and Tom are the main characters and the story will happen around them. But why they won't have a romantic relationship is something that will become clear in the next few chapters. But, since it's me, there will of course be smut (but not between Tom and Hermione). I just wanted to come out and say it right now so I won't get angry reviews about how they don't end up together. The story is already finished (but still needs to be edited and betaed) so that's the way I can say for sure that they won't be together romantically.
> 
> So for all of you who hasn't already gone screaming in the other direction, here are the warnings: smut, death, torture, language.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I don't make any money of this story.
> 
> Special thank to Ozzy (ozzymandius) who betaed this chapter! Couldn't have done it without you, love. Have some cookies!  
> I hope you like the story!

 

**Chapter 1**

 

It was with great sorrow Salazar Slytherin witnessed the destruction of Hogwarts. To increase his sorrow and anger, this was all caused by his one and only heir, known to the world as Lord Voldemort.

 

When Salazar had been alive, he might have been proud of his heir's power and ambition. However, after a thousand years, you did change somewhat. Now Salazar only saw the man as a hypocrite. Lord Voldemort had been born to the world as Tom Riddle. His mother had been one of Salazar’s last three pureblooded descendants. She had run off with a Muggle and their union had resulted into the very disturbed Tom Riddle, who claimed to be pureblood, but had no idea at all of what was expected of a pureblood. Instead, Voldemort had just taken advantage of the hatred of Muggles and used it to get power. He didn’t even know why Muggles couldn’t be trusted!

 

Now, however, the terror of Lord Voldemort seemed to be coming to an end.

 

Salazar had been following the battle from a tower of Hogwarts. When he had helped to build Hogwarts, he had put his very soul in his work. Not like a horcrux, as Voldemort had done, but in a more loving way. An argument with Godric Gryffindor had forced Salazar to leave Hogwarts, but just one year after, Salazar had been murdered. Not wanting to leave the world, he had taken refuge at Hogwarts, which was so full of his soul and magic that he had almost been reborn. Almost.

 

He was more than a ghost because he still had some magical abilities and could touch and move whatever he wanted. However, he just wasn’t alive. His body was exactly the same as it had been when he had died at the age of fifty seven. He couldn't eat or drink. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t leave Hogwarts’ grounds and while ghosts could become visible whenever they wished, only people connected to Salazar's blood and magic could actually see him.

 

He was neither dead nor alive, and after a few hundred years of nothing exciting happening, he had retreated into the Chamber of Secrets. He had fallen into some sort of hibernation, waiting for something to happen. Five years ago, he had been awakened by a girl crying in the chambers.

 

To his great surprise he had realised that it was a horcrux that had taken control of the girl. He had instinctively recognised his own blood and it had been confirmed later when a young boy came down to rescue the girl. Salazar had watched with great surprise how the young boy, called Harry Potter, managed to destroy the vessel keeping the horcrux alive.

 

Not being able to see his own kin die like that, Salazar had captured the torn part of the soul and kept it with him. Once he had discovered what was going own, he was glad he had. Not only did the part of the soul belong to the last person of his blood, but there were bigger things at stake. Unfortunately, no one but him seemed to realise what was going on. They were all too busy fighting Voldemort.

 

Salazar had started to haunt the Headmaster's office and found out everything he needed to know about his only heir. Thanks to that, he had had four years to make a plan. When other fragments of Voldemort’s soul had been removed from their vessels, Salazar had summoned them to the part he had captured. If he hadn't, the fragments would have ceased to exist.

 

Now, as Salazar watched the destruction of his beloved castle, he knew the time had come to set his plan in motion. There was only one small fragment missing from Tom Riddle's soul and once Salazar had that, he would be able to restore his heir. Then he would teach the little hypocrite how he should live his life.

 

xxx

 

Tom Riddle woke up, feeling very strange. He remembered perfectly well going to Potions and trying to brew the Draught of Living Death for the first time. It had been harder than he had imagined and he had been in an awful mood at lunch. Not even Black's latest stunt with scaring some first years with the tale of Slytherin's monster had cheered him up. Black had no idea what the monster looked like. Tom did. Everyone believed he had been the one to stop the monster. That wasn’t true. He had in fact been the one controlling the monster. Just at the end of last school year had he framed that oaf Hagrid.

 

It had been enough to keep the school open for another year and now it was almost time for the winter break. It had taken Tom the entire fall to get Professor Slughorn to sign a note saying Tom could borrow Magick Moste Evile. Now he had what was needed to make use of the split he had made in his soul last school year when he killed that girl. He could finally make a Horcrux.

 

Tom remembered having these thoughts. Since he had had a free afternoon, he had walked to the Chamber of Secrets to start the process that would allow him to take the first step to immortality. He remembered entering the Chamber, but then everything became a blur.

 

Somehow he knew that a lot of time had passed, but he just couldn't remember what had happened. Just flashes that made his head ache. Had someone attacked him?

 

He realised his eyes were closed and decided to open them. Light was streaming in from windows close to the roof. He could hear water dripping and feel hard stone underneath him. Hogwarts. Yes, somehow he was sure he was at Hogwarts. Well, he was a student... or, was he? Something felt wrong. Why did he have the feeling he had already graduated?

 

An image of a parchment bearing his final grades and that wonderful feeling of triumph entered his mind. How could that be?

 

This was not the time to think about that. He had to take care of any immediate danger. If someone had messed with his mind, they were probably still around and he needed to know more about them. Sitting up slowly, he recognised his surroundings. This was the girls’ bathroom which held the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Had he slipped on his way down to the Chamber?

 

No, the place looked different. The mirrors on the wall had been changed, the doors to the loos had a new colour and the place was too quiet. Usually he had to avoid at least a couple of Hufflepuff girls, since this bathroom was the closest from their dorm. Actually, the whole castle didn't sound the way it used to. Something was very wrong. Had an experiment gone wrong?

 

Yes, he remembered starting to create the Horcrux and placing it inside the diary...

 

“Boy!” A pair of fingers snapped in front of his face.

 

Shocked, he looked up and saw a man he was sure he had never seen before looming over him. Tom hastened to stand, but his body wasn’t working as he remembered. He slipped and the man captured him. His face was red with mortification as he pushed the man away and took a step back.

 

This wasn't good, he needed to get his body under control. The man had obviously done something to him. Tom looked at him closely. He was sure he had never seen the man before, but something felt... familiar. The first thing that struck him were the mesmerising grey eyes and the strange robe. The robe was... big. It was black and very well sewn, beautifully decorated with silver serpents. It must have had many layers and Tom wondered if the man wasn't feeling hot. The bathroom was very hot for midwinter.

 

“I can imagine your confusion, Tom,” the man said. “I'll explain everything once I have confirmed that you are indeed you. What is your name?”

 

Tom was usually very quick to come up with solutions to problems, but right now, he was at a loss. His brain seemed very slow, as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. “You just said it, didn’t you? I’m Tom. Tom Riddle.”

 

The man nodded, seemingly pleased. “Good. How old are you?”

 

“I’ll turn seventeen in two weeks…” Tom trailed off. No, that wasn’t right. He remembered that he would be seventeen in two weeks, but at the same time, he distinctly remembered turning seventeen. He looked around again and noticed the sun shining through the windows, and how warm it was. In the distance, he could see leaves on the trees in the Forbidden Forest.

 

It was summer. Or spring at least. His birthday was in the middle of the winter. Something was very, very wrong here. Tom glanced towards a mirror and saw the same face he had seen the morning, before he had walked to his Potions class. What was going on?

 

“So you just remember the things you did up to when you created your first Horcrux. Well, the rest will come to you in due time. But why don’t we take a tour?” The man held out his hand for Tom.

 

Tom frowned. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me what’s going on. Who are you?” He searched his pockets for his wand. He needed it to protect himself. Why didn’t he have it in his hand already?

 

“You don’t have your wand, boy. My name is Salazar Slytherin, and I’ve brought you back from the dead. You’ll show me respect.”

 

Tom froze in his movements, just staring at the man. He looked nothing like the portraits or statues of Slytherin. And brought him back from the dead? That was just ridiculous! He couldn’t die.

 

“You don’t believe me. Well, you will soon.” Slytherin (or whoever the person was), grabbed Tom’s shoulder and forced him to move out of the bathroom. Tom tried to wrestle free, but for some reason, his body didn’t have the power to break free. Swallowing the fear of why that was, Tom decided to wait until he had more information and had figured out what to do next. At least the man didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt him.

 

As they came out in the corridor, Tom was horrified to see the destruction of Hogwarts. Walls were torn down, blood was splattered across the floor and many paintings and suits of armour seemed to be destroyed. The worst, however, were the sounds. He could hear voices, mumbling about the identities of those who had been murdered. Crying people who had lost their close ones. They went past a boy who just sat on the floor, terror on his face. A girl came over to him, made him rise and follow her. However, he didn’t seem to be aware of what he was doing. His face was frozen in shock.

 

Tom felt personally violated. This castle had been his home since he had got here. It had been his and he liked it.

 

Who could have done this to his home? Whoever it was, Tom swore to make that person suffer horribly.

 

When they entered the Great Hall, Tom’s eyes flew over the many dead bodies. He didn’t care that they were dead, but it felt wrong to see them lying where he used to eat. This was a place for eating, not death! The whole world had gone mad.

 

“What should we do with it?” A voice captured Tom’s attention. It came from a red-haired young man who sounded very frightened.

 

“I think we should just burn it with the Death Eaters,” came the not-so-frightened reply from a tall, dark, bald man.

 

Salazar steered Tom towards the group of people where the two men stood. They were all looking at something.

 

“And we are sure he can’t come back again?” an elderly witch asked with a worried frown.

 

“Potter seemed certain of it,” the bald man answered.

 

An opening between two wizards revealed what they were all looking at. Tom took a step forward. It was a body clad in a long black robe. The head was white as snow and completely bald. The red eyes were still open, but had no life in them. There was no nose or lips. A white, skeletal thin hand lay in front of the face, holding a wand. A very familiar wand.

 

“ _Look what became of you as a result of following your chosen path, Tom_ ,” Salazar said behind him in Parseltongue. “ _This is Lord Voldemort. You weren’t aware that making horcruxes changed the appearance? No, how could you. No one has ever tried to split their soul as many times as you did. It wasn’t just the appearance that changed either… I know you are sickened by the state of this castle, Tom. Lord Voldemort didn’t care. He was more insane than anyone ever realised. Is this really what you want to become_?”

 

It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. Lord Voldemort was supposed to be all powerful, immortal. This couldn’t be him. And yet, something inside Tom remembered this. How the changes had happened gradually. How he hadn’t cared because at least he didn’t look like his Muggle father anymore. He had thought it would ensure his immortality. Why would you look like a mortal when you weren’t?

 

But this wasn’t immortality. This was Lord Voldemort and he was dead. Somehow, he had died, and been brought back to life.

 

Tom couldn’t speak. He feared his stomach would reveal his state of nausea if he tried.

 

Salazar led him away from the group. They came to the bathroom again and Tom was almost too deep in his thoughts to realise they were moving down to the Chamber of Secrets. No one knew about the Chamber. Could this man really be Salazar?

 

Down in the Chamber, Salazar took Tom to a room he had never been to before. This one must have been Salazar’s personal quarters. It was decorated in Slytherin colours, but the furniture was outdated. The bedding seemed to be made of straws and the shelves were carved into the stone. A robust table stood in a corner and the bench next to it was covered with green pillows. Tom guessed that a thousand years ago, all of these must have been luxury goods.

 

Salazar pushed Tom down on the bench and stood in front of him. “You destroyed yourself and this castle, Tom. But that’s not all. With your death, my bloodline ended. We can’t have that.”

 

Tom stared at him. “If you really are Salazar Slytherin, how come you aren’t dead?”

 

“I am dead, you stupid boy.”

 

Tom ignored the insult. “Since when can dead people do magic?”

 

“I put my blood, magic and soul into building this castle. That’s why I still have my magic, even though I’m dead. A part of me will always live on in Hogwarts.”

 

Tom’s brain worked fast. “I assume you are limited in some ways, if you are a ghost. You are tied to Hogwarts, so I guess that means you can’t leave.”

 

“Don’t look so smug, boy. You won’t be able to leave either. I brought you back from the dead, and if you don’t do as I say, I’ll let you go back to the land of the dead.”

 

“I thought you said we couldn’t have that, because of our bloodline?” Tom quickly inquired. He still wasn’t sure he believed Salazar, however, when he tried to come up with some other explanation for all the strange things that were happening he drew a blank.

 

“Yes, but I used my magic to create you. You are tied to my will. If you test me, I will make you suffer.”

 

Tom leant back, thinking. “What year is it?”

 

“1998.”

 

“What happened to me? The other me, I mean.”

 

“You thought you could defeat some Chosen One. You failed. You died.” Salazar looked rather smug.

 

Tom frowned in annoyance. He still didn’t want to believe he had died. “So why did you bring me back?”

 

“You don’t realise how important our bloodline is. Only we have the abilities that are necessary to control Jörmungandr.” Salazar said, clearly getting frustrated.

 

Tom blinked at him. “The what?”

 

“Your lack of knowledge of history, especially our family’s history, is depressing.”

 

“I wasn’t raised by any family,” Tom said coldly. “I did my best to find out everything I could about the Slytherin bloodline. Nowhere was there any mention of a Jörmundong or whatever.”

 

“Jörmungandr,” Salazar corrected him. “It’s a name. The name of our ancestor’s son, who has been asleep at the bottom of the sea for thousands and thousands of years. But the world is changing and if we don’t stop it, he will awaken and bring Ragnarök upon us.”

 

 

“Ragnarök,” Tom repeated slowly. “Isn’t that the end of the world in Norse mythology?”

 

“You are not completely ignorant then, that’s good,” Salazar said, nodding.

Tom grimaced. “It’s not like I haven’t read myths. There wasn’t much else to do at the orphanage.”

 

“The myths have been misrepresented over time. The Norse gods were wizards. Muggles thought them gods because of their powers, and treated them as such. But they became foolish, experimenting with powers no one should. Loki and Odin were the worst. Powerful wizards who challenged each other in magic.

 

“Loki wanted to create new, even more powerful creatures only he could control. He created the first werewolf, the Fenrir, and that curse is still spreading in our days. But the most dangerous and powerful thing he fathered was Jörmungandr, the Serpent of the World. A huge beast, which grew due to magic to encircle the whole world. When he moves, the world shakes and continents are flooded. When he was laid down into the sea, the earth flooded. There are stories about this in every corner of the world.

 

“Once the wizards of Asgard realised how dangerous the Serpent was, they put him into an enchanted sleep. Over the millennia, it has fallen upon our family to make sure the Serpent is kept asleep. The power to do so is in our blood. That’s why we are the most powerful Parselmouths in the world.”

 

Tom let the information sink in for a moment. He had no idea what to believe. It sounded ridiculous. To begin with, had the Norse gods even been real? However, if it was real, then having control of a Serpent that could destroy the world was rather … neat. That thought appealed to Tom, so he decided to play along until he found out more.

 

“Why is it down to our bloodline?” he asked.

 

“Our ancestor is Narfi, son of Loki. He was only a young boy when most of the Norse gods were killed, Loki included. He was raised by Heimdallr, the one who murdered Loki. Heimdallr was a seer, and he told Narfi about our family’s responsibility, and every child since then has been taught the spells to enchant Jörmungandr. But it has been over two hundred years since anyone from our family has done it, and he is beginning to stir, deep down in the ocean. It’s starting to cause natural catastrophes around the globe, and they will only increase if no one stops it. Thus, you have to do what Loki did to Odin. You have to get a Blood Brother.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because we don’t have time for you to father a child, and I don’t trust you to actually stop Jörmungandr from rising. But a Blood Brother would get the same powers you have, and the same responsibilities. We’ll find someone righteous, powerful and brave. Once he is your Blood Brother, I’ll be able to give him further instructions.”

 

Tom crossed his arms. “And once I do that, you’ll just send me back to die again? Why should I help you?”

 

Salazar held up his hand, and Tom felt as if someone was strangling him. He tried to reach Salazar to stop him, but a magical force was holding him down. Just as Tom was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, Salazar let go.

 

Tom slumped back against the table behind him, inhaling deeply.

 

“My powers may be limited, but not when it comes to you, Tom Riddle,” Salazar said harshly.

Tom looked away, grinding his teeth together. There was nothing he loathed as much as when people had power over him.

 

Salazar took Tom’s chin in his hand, and forced Tom to look at him again. “However, when I don’t need you anymore, I may let you go to do as you wish, if you have proven yourself worthy. You are still my heir.”

 

Tom stared at Salazar, making up his mind. He may not have fully gripped what was going on, but he was sure that there was some way for him to get out of this. But he would probably have to lay low, just as he had done all his life at Hogwarts. He didn’t think Salazar would be as easily fooled as his teachers had been, but even Salazar must have some weakness. Tom just had to wait to see what that was. Just making a Blood Brother was probably not too much work. He would just have to stall until he knew exactly what it meant.

 

“Very well,” Tom finally said. “I’ll help you.”

 

Salazar kept holding his chin for a few seconds longer, studying him. Then he let go, and straightened. “Good. First thing we must do is establish your place here at Hogwarts. We’ll find your Blood Brother here. Tomorrow, you’ll go to Professor McGonagall, the new Headmistress, and offer your services.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because it’s your fault Hogwarts is in this state, so you should help repair it. You’ll be a student who is of age. We’ll say that you are from Sweden and want to finish your last year here and that you are willing to work for a spot. I’ve already planted some paperwork in the office; a request to transfer a student named Gus Dolder.”

 

Tom stared at him in horror. “I’ll be called Gus? Even Tom is better than that! Gus sounds like the name of a cat.”

 

Salazar sighed. “It doesn’t matter. You can be called Tom instead; it’s easy enough to pretend that Gus is your second name.”

 

“Good. But why do I have to be from Sweden? People will realise I’m not when they hear I can’t speak Swedish.”

 

“You know too little about the war to be a native, and it will take too much time to catch up on everything. If you are a foreigner, it will explain your lack of knowledge about certain things. Besides, Sweden has been neutral in the war, and wizards haven’t been allowed to travel to Britain to help. And I speak Swedish; it’s the only other language I’ve bothered to keep up-to-date with. I was born in the country that is now called Sweden. I doubt we’ll meet anyone here who knows Swedish, and if someone asks you to say something in it, I’ll be there to tell you what to say.”

 

“You have been planning this for quite some time,” Tom noted.

 

“I’m dead, it’s not like I have anything else to do,” Salazar said and then smiled. “Don’t worry Tom, I’ll be able to guard you all the time.” 

  
  


 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In celebration of Korra-day, here is chapter two! I’m really happy that the response has been so good! For those of you who have left anon reviews, you can find your replies here: http://tomioneconvention.forumotion.com/t1011-review-reply-serpent-of-the-world#49192
> 
>  
> 
> I want to thank Ozzy for betaing this chapter! What would I do without my trusted beta? Well, probably have more mistakes, but you know… here is a cookie!
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

 

**Chapter 2**

 

“ _You mean you let him escape again?” his voice was high and cold._

 

“ _M-master.” A woman lay sobbing at his feet. “We had him but… it was Malfoy’s old house-elf that—”_

 

“ _I don’t need your pitiful excuses, Bella,” he interrupted her and aimed his wand at her._

 

_She screamed when the curse hit her. From around the dark room other cries were_ _heard. He looked up and saw two men slice another man to pieces. Somehow, he knew it was a werewolf. A werewolf could survive blood loss for_ _so much longer than humans. His suffering would be long and painful._

 

_In another corner, a whole family was being tortured. He would increase their pain once Bella had fallen unconscious. The blond woman of the family was trying to get to her son who was screaming in agony. She didn’t even seem to be aware of the man who was whipping her back bloody…_

 

Tom woke up, his breath caught in his throat. What was that? He had a feeling it was something that had just happened, but hadn’t Salazar said Voldemort had turned mad? Tom hadn’t felt mad, in the dream-memory. As always, he had felt that inner pleasure that came with having complete control over someone, by torturing someone, by having their life at your mercy.

 

It had been an important punishment as well, not just some whim of a madman. His followers had let him down. Had Salazar lied to him about Voldemort’s fate? It was strange that he would destroy Hogwarts, his home, but there could be a reason for that. So why was Salazar lying to him? Just to encourage him not to make Horcruxes? Well, Tom wouldn’t be doing that again, regardless. Clearly, it hadn’t worked.

 

Pushing the dream, or memory, to the back of his mind for now, he rose from the bed. Salazar was nowhere to be seen, so it was a good time to snoop around. Unfortunately he hadn’t even managed to get to the shelves where the rolls of parchment lay before Salazar appeared in the room.

 

“Good, you are awake,” he said. “It’s just after seven, and a good time for you to make your appearance.”

 

Tom sighed. Very well, if it meant he could start to have some control over things…

 

Salazar placed his hand on his shoulder and led him out of the room. “Remember, your name is Tom Gus Dolder. Since you are of age, you are at liberty to finish your education anywhere you want. Offer your services for a chance to complete your education.”

 

As they walked up the stairs to the Headmistress’ office, Tom hardly saw anyone. However, as they walked past a window, he saw a group of people standing around a fire. It appeared that they were cremating some of the deceased. Tom suppressed a shudder, knowing that his own body lay there somewhere. A body he didn’t remember having…

 

When they neared the outside of the Headmistress’s office, Salazar turned to him. “I’ve placed a very powerful charm over you. Everyone who has seen you before and knows you are Tom Riddle will not be able to remember where they have seen you. Just play along; say you have travelled a lot or something. I’m positive you’ll be able to trick them.”

 

Tom huffed. Of course he could.

 

Salazar sighed. “Well, here you go. Do not for a moment forget why I went through all this trouble getting you back, boy, and that I can tear you apart again if you displease me.”

 

Tom rolled his eyes. “If this bloodline wasn’t so important, you wouldn’t have bothered to bring me back and therefore, you’ll most likely hesitate to kill me.”

 

That earned him a smack on the back of his head. “I can make you wish you were dead. Now go!”

 

Wanting to get as far away from his ancestor as possible, Tom quickly climbed the stairs. He was very annoyed to see that when he knocked on the Headmistress’ door, Salazar was already behind him. It appeared that the great and mighty Salazar Slytherin didn’t trust him to do this alone.

 

“Enter,” came a tired voice.

 

Tom opened the door and stepped in. The office looked bare. There were only the regular bookshelves, portraits of the former Headmasters and a desk. Otherwise, the room had been stripped of all personal belongings Tom had seen throughout his years at Hogwarts.

 

An old woman was sitting behind the desk. Tom’s eyes widened. Last time he had seen Minerva McGonagall, she had been a tall proud eighteen-year-old with her long dark hair always in a ponytail. She had often smiled when she talked to her friends, but her nose crinkled when she was telling someone off. The woman sitting behind the desk could not be Minerva McGonagall.

 

Still, when she looked up from a piece of parchment, Tom knew it was her. The eyes were still the same, even if they were hallowed and tired now. For a moment, she frowned, as if she was trying to place him. However, Salazar’s spell seemed to have been effective because she closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head slightly.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Hello, madam,” Tom said, trying not to sound like a Londoner. “My name is Tom Dolder. I have heard about the final battle and at first I’d like to offer my congratulations, as well as condolences for the ones you’ve lost.”

 

“Thank you, Mr Dolder,” McGonagall said, her voice sounding much older and weaker than he remembered. “I’m Professor McGonagall.”

 

Tom gave her his most friendly smile. “I’ve heard a great deal about you, Professor. In fact, I’ve heard about most of the teachers here. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to be a student at Hogwarts.”

 

McGonagall’s expression changed and she became more guarded. “I see.”

 

“Oh, don’t misunderstand me, Professor, I haven’t come here to ask for a position as a student,” Tom said quickly. “Once I heard about the battle and the defeat of … You-Know-Who, I was tremendously happy and relieved. I’m from Sweden and I believe you are aware of our government’s reluctance to take a side in the war and send any people to Britain? Yes, well, now that the war is over, we are allowed to travel here again. I took the first Portkey I could find. I know it isn’t much, but I’ve come here to offer my assistance. I’m good at both Transfiguration and Potions. I could help with both, the rebuilding of the school and healing.”

 

As he spoke, he saw McGonagall’s face flash with relief.

 

“That is very thoughtful of you, Mr Dolder,” she said. “I cannot turn down an extra hand. Especially not if you are talented in Potions. Merlin knows we need all the healing potions we can get. However, I’m afraid I can’t promise you anything in return.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t count on it,” Tom interrupted quickly. “I am disgusted by how cowardly my Ministry has acted. If it was up to me … oh, never mind. I just want to help, if I can.”

 

McGonagall smiled weakly. “Well, as I said, I can’t say no to a helping hand. Down in the dungeons you’ll find Professor Slughorn and some other students brewing the potions which are required most. I’m sure he will be able to determine if you can help him. Ask for the way if you can’t find it.”

 

“Thank you, madam,” Tom said with a small bow.

 

“Were you born with a silver tongue?” Salazar asked, once they were on their way down to the dungeons.

 

Tom sighed. “Teachers are easy to fool. If Hogwarts remains open, she will offer me a position. Her Gryffindor pride won’t be able to accept being in debt. Can you leave me alone now? Isn’t it bad enough that I have to help the people who murdered the old me?”

 

Salazar arched an eyebrow. “I can’t trust you, Tom. You are stuck with me.”

 

Sullen, but not saying anything, Tom stalked down to the dungeon.

 

He came down and opened the door to what had been his Potions classroom. Apparently, it was still in function because Professor Slughorn was standing behind three cauldrons. He seemed to just have finished a batch because he was slowly measuring the potion to put into small jars. At another station stood a girl with frizzy brown hair twisted into a bun at the top of the head. Her lips were pressed tightly together as she concentrated on her two cauldrons.

 

The third person in the room was also working with two cauldrons, but he seemed even more tired than the other two. This was very surprising, considering that he looked like a Malfoy. Tom had known Abraxas quite well and kept in contact with him even after the older boy had left Hogwarts. Abraxas had been a snob and would never have worked himself to the edge of exhaustion. Yet, this boy was dirty and sweaty, his face grey with exhaustion. How peculiar.

 

Just then, Slughorn finished and noticed Tom standing there. Just like McGonagall, he seemed to try to place him but gave up with a sigh.

 

“Yes? If Pomfrey sent you to nag at me—” Slughorn started, sounding tired and annoyed.

 

“Oh, no, Professor,” Tom said quickly. “McGonagall sent me down here to help you.”

 

The relief was clear on the old man’s face. “Can you do a Blood-Replenishing Potion?”

 

Tom nodded.

 

“Excellent, excellent. Would you mind taking over Mr Malfoy’s station? I believe he is at the third step already.” Slughorn walked over to Malfoy’s batch and nodded. “Very good, Draco. I’ll take you to your common room. Perhaps your mother has been healed enough to help now. She was an excellent brewer when she was in school.”

 

The boy, Draco, seemed almost ready to faint. Slughorn gathered the jars he had filled and with a firm grip on Draco’s shoulder, led him out of the dungeon. Tom, not seeing an alternative, glanced down at the recipe Draco had followed. He had made Blood-Replenishing Potions before, but he didn’t know the instructions by heart. However, he was quite sure Draco had just added the moonstone which meant he would have to wait until the potion turned blue, then he would add the marigolds.

 

It took another hour and a half to finish the potion. Once he had filled the empty jars standing on the table in front of him, he looked up. The other girl was sitting a few yards away from him, staring unseeingly into space. He recognised the potion in the first cauldron as Skele-Gro. It was a boring potion to make. You had to wait three hours for it to mature. However, the girl appeared to have just finished a batch of Sleeping Draught. Jars containing the purple fluid were standing on the table next to her. Before her lay neatly cut ingredients which he guessed would go into a wound-cleaning potion. However, the second cauldron was empty.

 

“Do you need help?” Tom asked, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to pretend to be friendly and make potions at the moment.

 

The girl blinked and looked up at him, surprised. “What?”

 

He nodded at the ingredients. “Aren’t you going to start on the potion?”

 

She sighed, then stood up. “Yes. I was just taking a small break.”

 

Tom frowned. Had he offended her? “I can help you if you want. I just finished mine.”

 

“No, that will not be necessary,” she said shortly. “If you are finished, I suggest you begin with a new potion. Madam Pomfrey needs everything we can make.”

 

“Okay,” Tom mumbled. If the ungrateful girl didn’t want his help, he wouldn’t force her. He started to prepare an anti-infection potion.

 

A blond woman stepped through the door with Slughorn. They spoke in low voices for a while, before the woman conjured up her own station and started working. Slughorn took the potions Tom and the girl had finished and left. Twenty minutes later, he came back and started to work again.

 

Tom didn’t mind making healing potions, but after a couple of hours he was very bored by it. He finished the anti-infection potion and looked around the room. Salazar had disappeared somewhere, to his surprise and relief. Perhaps this was an opportunity to get away from his ancestor? He just needed an excuse to leave.

 

The girl he had talked to before was ashen with fatigue and yet she kept working with deep concentration. It didn’t take him many seconds to work out a plan to get himself out of here and hopefully find out more about the battle.

 

He walked up to Slughorn and successfully managed to turn his attention towards the girl.

 

“Miss Granger,” Slughorn said warmly to the girl. “You have done excellent work, but now you need to take a break.”

 

The girl, Granger, looked up with wide eyes. “But, sir! People are still dying! I can’t…”

 

Slughorn came over to her and led her away from her station. “You have already saved many lives today, Hermione. Now you need to rest. Did you get any sleep at all this night?”

 

“A little,” she mumbled.

 

“Now, you and Mr… er, sorry, I don’t believe we were introduced?” Slughorn looked at Tom.

 

“Dolder,” Tom said quickly. “Tom Dolder.” Such a horrible name.

 

“Ah, well, Hermione, why don’t you and Mr Dolder get something to eat, and then I don’t want you coming down here again until you have had a good night’s sleep. We have almost run out of most ingredients as it is. Mrs Malfoy and I will finish what we can today. Hopefully, we will have new ones by tomorrow,” Slughorn said in a final tone.

 

Reluctantly, Granger nodded. Without looking at Tom, she started to walk out of the dungeon.

 

Tom frowned. Why was she so unfriendly? He wasn’t used to people, especially girls, just ignoring him. He followed her.

 

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked, as he came to walk beside her.

 

She sent him an annoyed glance. “Why are you following me? Who are you anyway?”

 

Tom’s eyes narrowed. “I’m Tom Dolder. I’m from Sweden. I came here this morning when I heard about the fight. I thought I could help.”

 

“Help?” For some reason, Granger looked furious. “Sorry to ruin it for you, Dolder, but you are a year too late! If you wanted to help, you would have come when they were sending Muggle-borns to Azkaban, or when Death Eaters were taking over this school, or when innocent people were being murdered!”

 

She stalked away. Tom was stunned. The girl clearly had issues and was projecting her anger towards him. However, you didn’t treat Tom Riddle like a punching bag. He strode over to her again and grabbed her shoulder.

 

“Look, Granger, I didn’t come here to be yelled at! If you—” he stopped. The girl’s face had gone completely white. The next moment, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.

 

Tom quickly caught her, cursing. He rummaged in his pocket for his wand, so that he could levitate the girl up to the infirmary. It wasn’t there. Curse it! Salazar still hadn’t given him a wand. He would have to take that up with his ancestor sooner rather than later. People would definitely start to ask questions if they found him without a wand.

 

Swearing under his breath, he looked down at the girl in his arms. Well, it wouldn’t hurt his good-boy image if he carried the girl to the infirmary. People would think he was friendly and worthy of a position here. It wouldn’t hurt to try.

 

The girl didn’t weigh much, he noted as he carried her up the stairs. However, she was still heavy enough for him to work up a sweat. By the time he came to the infirmary, he was breathing hard. Once inside the infirmary, he scanned the room, but saw that there was no place to put her. Judging by the state most of the patients seemed to be in, there wouldn’t be a bed free for quite some time. A middle-aged woman, who appeared to be under a lot of stress, came up to him.

 

“Collapsed?” she asked.

 

Tom nodded.

 

The woman looked around with a grimace. “I don’t have any spare beds here. I’ll transfigure one in the classroom right here. Would you mind staying with her until she wakes up? Make sure she has something to eat and drink once she does.” The woman sighed. “Or maybe one of her friends will come by, then I’ll send them to you. However, that will probably take some time. Potter left with McGonagall a while ago.”

 

Tom didn’t hear the rest. Potter! A cold fury rose in his chest. How he despised that boy! Although, he couldn’t really remember why. Just that the boy needed to suffer and die. Perhaps it was best to stay with Granger for now. If she was friends with this Potter, maybe he could figure out why he hated him so.

 

The woman led him across the corridor and transformed a school desk into a bed. He put Granger down on top of it.

 

“Just call if she seems to need anything,” the woman said, and then quickly hurried back to the other room.

 

Tom pulled out a chair from another school desk, and sat down next to Granger. Right then, Salazar appeared again on the other side of her bed.

 

“Already bedding girls, Tom?” he asked, looking amused.

 

Tom sent him a dark glare. “She collapsed. I had to carry her up here, and then the nurse wanted me to keep a watch on her. I need a wand.”

 

Salazar sighed. “I suppose you do.” However, he didn’t look very happy when he reached inside his robe and removed a long black wand. “Take this.”

 

Tom accepted the wand, and was very relieved when he felt its power surge through him. The wand seemed to have accepted him. To test it, he transfigured a pen into a glass and filled it with water. It worked perfectly. On closer inspection, he saw that the handle was engraved with serpents that had tiny runes on their bodies.

 

“Whose wand is this?” he asked, curious.

 

“Mine. Don’t break it.”

 

Tom transfigured a holster for the wand, which he placed on his left arm, before sticking the wand into it.

 

“The people here are talking about other people and seem to expect me to know who they are,” Tom said casually, pretending to just make small-talk. “Like Potter. Some people have talked about him. Who is he?”

 

Salazar eyed him in a way that told Tom he hadn’t been fooled. “Potter is the Boy-Who-Lived. You tried to murder him when he was a baby. He survived. He was later labelled ‘The Chosen One’, destined to kill Lord Voldemort. He did that yesterday. He is the hero of the Wizarding World.”

 

Tom felt anger surge in his stomach. How could a boy have killed him? Well, that was something he would find out later. “And this girl? I’ve only heard she is called Granger.”

 

“Yes, Hermione Granger, Mudblood extraordinaire, Potter’s best friend, cleverest witch Hogwarts has ever seen, and so on.”

 

“A Mudblood is the cleverest witch at Hogwarts?” Tom asked, grimacing.

 

“You’ll have to get over your disgust. At this time, voicing such opinions will have people believing you are a Death Eater, and you’ll be taken in for questioning,” Salazar said, much to Tom’s surprise. Hadn’t Salazar been known for his hatred of Muggles and Mudbloods?

 

“What on earth is a Death Eater?” he asked instead.

 

“Lord Voldemort’s followers,” Salazar replied. “You don’t want to let anyone think you share any views similar to them. It will make your work here much harder.”

 

Tom sighed, but he saw what Salazar meant. If the Muggle-loving side had won, he had better pretend to be like them if he wanted to fit in. At least he wouldn’t have to actually meet any Muggles. He hated Muggles more than he hated Mudbloods. At least Mudbloods had magic and could assimilate into the Wizarding World. He didn’t care about them. It was the ones that insisted on bringing their Muggle ways with them that he couldn’t stand. Why would anyone want to have anything Muggle when they could live in a magical world instead?

 

Granger suddenly started to stir on the bed. She opened her eyes, and blinked a few times before sitting up. Her eyes fell on Tom, and she frowned.

 

“What are you doing here?” she asked, sounding just as unfriendly as she had before she had collapsed.

 

Tom rose, feeling aggravated. “You fainted of exhaustion. For some strange reason, I didn’t feel it was right to leave you on the floor in the dungeon, so I took you up to the hospital wing, but since there was no room there, the nurse transfigured a bed here and asked me to watch over you until you woke up. I’m so sorry, I’ll leave at once.”

 

He began stalking out of the room, but stopped when she called.

 

“Wait!”

 

He turned around, arms crossed.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to be rude, I’m just … well, we have all had it hard, I guess. But that’s no reason to take it out on you. Sorry.”

 

Tom regarded her, but she seemed genuinely sorry. Well, if she was Potter’s friend, then he wanted to talk to her to find out more about Potter. Somehow, he would make sure Potter had an accident sooner or later.

 

“I guess that’s understandable,” he said slowly. “But I’m here to help; not to be used as a punching bag.”

 

She grimaced. “You are right, I was rude. Let’s just start over. I’m Hermione Granger.”

 

Tom went back to her and took her outstretched hand. “Tom Dolder.”

 

“Right. Did you say you were from Sweden?”

 

Tom nodded. “I just came here this morning.”

 

“You speak excellent English,” she said, probably to make up for how rude she had been before.

 

“Well, I’ve spoken it all my life,” Tom said. It would be too hard to explain why he didn’t have a Swedish accent, and it was too late to start faking one now. “I’m half-British. My mum emigrated.”

 

“Oh, nice.” She seemed rather uncomfortable.

 

“Do you want anything to eat?” Tom asked. “Or drink?”

 

“Yes, I think I should eat something,” she said. “Nothing too heavy, though. Just some toast.”

 

Tom was about to turn around again, to go and find some house-elf with the order, but before he had even made it to the door, one popped in with a plate full of toast and a flask of pumpkin juice. Tom glanced at Salazar who just smiled.

 

“Wow, Hogwarts has great service,” Tom said, pretending to be surprised as the house-elf popped out again.

 

“I guess Pomfrey sent for them,” Granger said, as she took a piece of bread and began nibbling at the edge of it.

 

Tom realised he was hungry too (he hadn’t had anything since that morning), so he sat down on the chair again, reaching for the plate on Granger’s bed.

 

They ate in silence for a while; Tom knowing he shouldn’t intrude, and Hermione seemingly uncomfortable with him.

 

“So,” she finally said slowly, once she had finished the first slice of  toast. “What’s Sweden like?”

 

“Oh, er, lots of trees,” he answered. He had never been to Sweden. Not that he could remember anyway. He did get an image of a screaming child in the middle of a forest. Perhaps his old self had murdered someone there? Because he was quite sure the flashes he got now and again were memories from his former life. “It’s nothing special. I grew up about seventy kilometres from the Norwegian border.” He made sure to store this knowledge in his mind so he could repeat the same lie to everyone.

 

“Sounds nice,” she said.

 

“Yeah. Where did you grow up?” he asked. If she didn’t ask too much, he wouldn’t have to come up with too many lies.

 

“On the south coast. Poole, if you know where it is.”

 

“Somewhat. How old are you? Have you already graduated?”

 

Granger made a grimace. “I’m eighteen. Will be nineteen in the fall. I should have graduated, well, now, but with the war … I’ll just have to do my last year this fall instead. If they manage to open Hogwarts again. What about you?”

 

“I became seventeen in December,” he answered, figuring it was almost true. “I had hoped to do my final year here at Hogwarts, but they seldom take transfer students. So I guess I have an ulterior motive for helping as well. But if they can’t open the school, or if they choose not to take me in, I’ll just go back to Sweden in the fall and finish my last year there.”

 

She looked at him sympathetically. “Well, if they decide to open the school in the fall, I can put in a good word for you. I was a prefect in my fifth and sixth year. You did do a good job with those potions.”

 

He smiled at her. “I’d appreciate that. I really want to finish my education here.” That, at least, was completely true. Even if he knew most of what the teachers were lecturing about, Hogwarts could still teach him things. For one, he hadn’t read every book in the library yet. Considering that he had just skipped fifty years forward in time, there was bound to be a lot of new knowledge there.

 

The door opened, and a black-haired young man with glasses entered. He looked relieved when he saw Hermione. Tom felt a stab of fury go through him.

 

“Harry!” Hermione said, at once sounding much happier.

 

Tom kept his emotions hidden. So this was the boy who had managed to kill Lord Voldemort. How humiliating. He really had to find a way to avenge himself.

 

“There you are Hermione!” Potter came up to them and hugged the girl. “Madam Pomfrey said you collapsed.”

 

“I’m okay,” Granger assured the boy. “This is Tom Dolder. He helped me. Tom, this is Harry Potter.”

 

Tom shook hands with Potter. “I guess I have to congratulate you on the defeat of You-Know-Who?”

 

Potter didn’t smile. “I just did what had to be done.”

 

Tom really didn’t like Potter. However, he put on a amiable face. “Well, if you are feeling better, Hermione, I think I should get going and see if I can help with something else.”

 

He could tell by Potter’s expression that he wanted to speak to Granger by himself, and since he was still just a stranger to them, it would make a much better impression if he didn’t seem too eager to learn all their secrets at once. There would be plenty of time for that later.

 

“Thank you for your help, Tom,” Granger said and gave him a weak smile. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

 

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Harry.”

 

Potter nodded at him and Tom left the room.

 

Salazar was right behind him as he made his way back to the dungeons.

 

“Don’t even think about it, boy,” Salazar suddenly said.

 

“Think about what?” Tom asked, but he was quite sure he knew what Salazar was referring to.

 

“This is no time to avenge your death. We have more important things to do. In fact, Potter would make a good Blood Brother. And he already has some history speaking Parseltongue, so it wouldn’t be as strange as it would be if someone else suddenly starts speaking it.”

 

Tom stopped and stared at his ancestor. “No! You’re already asking too much of me by telling me to ignore him. You can’t make me some Blood Brother to him. There has to be someone else!”

 

Salazar regarded him, but then sighed. “In this regard, you are right. I don’t want you two killing each other.”

 

Tom exhaled in relief. It seemed like Salazar didn’t want to drive him insane after all.

  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for chapter three! As always, I want to thank Ozzy for betaing this story. *Snuggles and kisses Ozzy*. I also want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, kudos:ed or in any other way expressed their likings of this fic! You are the best!

**Chapter 3**

 

Hermione forced herself to eat breakfast and saw Harry doing the same thing. If other people hadn’t been there as well, watching over them, she doubted they would have eaten anything. Even though she knew she had to eat, with everything that had happened, eating was just as hard to do as sleeping.

 

Just a week had passed since the battle, and she had spent most of that time down in the dungeons, making potions. The Swede, Tom, was there often as well, but they rarely had time to talk. She didn’t know what to think of him. He was always polite, and one of the most handsome men Hermione had ever seen, but there was just something about him that felt … off. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe it was just the war making her very distrustful of people, or maybe there really was something wrong.

 

However, since he was friendly and helpful, she had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. When she saw him enter the kitchen, she waved him over to come and join her and Harry.

 

“Good morning,” Tom greeted them as he sat down at the opposite side of the table. The house-elves had rearranged the kitchen, so that instead of it being a copy of the Great Hall, small square tables had been placed all around, and people could sit wherever they wanted.

 

“Morning,” Harry grunted.

 

“Hi,” Hermione said. “Sleep well?”

 

Tom shrugged. “Better than most, I would expect. How about you?”

 

Hermione just shrugged, and Harry seemed more interested in his tea cup than being in a conversation.

 

“I see,” Tom said. “Well, we are brewing more Potion for Dreamless Sleep today. Professor Slughorn said he had got the new ingredients.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

Even though she tried to be as polite as she could, Hermione couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

 

As he spread butter onto the toast, evening its thickness, without soiling his fingers, she realised what it was that bugged her. He was _too_ perfect. Everything he did was done with a grace and precision that seemed out of this world. It didn’t matter whether he was brewing a potion or, like now, preparing his food. It was the same with his looks. His skin was pale and smooth and seemed to never have had any pimples at all; his black hair looked effortless and yet perfect; his robes were immaculate, without wrinkles and laid perfectly over his body. His dark brown eyes were completely unreadable, and often blank. In the past week, she hadn’t seen him express any other emotion besides mild amusement or concentration.

 

There could of course be an explanation other than that he was hiding something. He could just be a neurotic perfectionist; Merlin knows she knew how that felt. But at the same time … no, there was something that didn’t add up.

 

“Have you planned to stay here for the whole summer?” Hermione asked. She decided that the only way she would figure out the riddle that was Tom, was to talk to him.

 

“I guess I’ll stay here for as long as they have use of me. Then we’ll see.”

 

“What about your parents? Won’t they miss you?” Hermione asked.

 

For a moment, she saw a flash of something in his eyes. Could it be sorrow?

 

“No, I don’t think they will. Besides, I’m of age now, so I can go wherever I please,” he said, avoiding her eyes.

 

“Oh, I see,” Hermione said, wondering what had happened to his parents, but decided it wasn’t her place to ask right now. He didn’t seem comfortable with the subject.

 

“What about you? Do you plan on doing something else this summer?” Tom asked.

 

At once, Hermione started to think about her own parents, and was saddened. Should she find them and restore their memories? Yes, she probably should. But not now. Not yet. If she saw her parents now, she would turn into an emotional mess. She had to gain some distance from the war. Besides, she was needed here.

 

“I don’t know. We have so much to do here first,” Hermione said, pushing those thoughts away. She knew she would have to deal with them sooner or later, but she just couldn’t right now.

 

“Indeed,” Tom said.

 

The tense silence stretched between them again. Luckily, Hermione was saved from having to come up with some other subject by Ron and Ginny appearing in the doorway. She waved at them, and they came over. After Fred’s funeral five days ago, Ron and Ginny had spent some time with their family. Hermione and Harry had been welcome to join them, but they had felt like it was best to let the Weasley family grieve in peace.

 

She hugged both of them when they came over, before introducing them to Tom.

 

Ginny frowned when she saw him.

 

“Why does it feel like I know you from somewhere?” she asked, as they sat down at the table.

 

Tom frowned and studied her. “I don’t know. Maybe we have run into each other somewhere? I’ve been in Britain a lot of times before, and visited all the wizarding places.”

 

Ginny shrugged. “Welcome to Hogwarts, I guess.”

 

“Thank you. I’m sorry to see it in such a state, though. I hope we’ll be able to rebuild it. I’ve seen pictures of what it used to look like … such a shame.”

 

The others nodded.

 

“Well, I’ll go and start with the potions, I’ll see you later, Hermione,” Tom said and rose. He nodded at the others, and they all watched him go.

 

“Who was that?” Ron asked, and Hermione thought she detected a hint of jealousy.

 

“Just someone from Sweden who came here wanting to help out,” Hermione said, shrugging.

 

“There is something about him I don’t like,” Harry suddenly said.

 

“Yeah, I get that feeling too,” Ron quickly agreed, but didn’t seem to say it for the same reason as Harry had.

 

Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron _was_ jealous. She hoped he wouldn’t be too annoying about it, though. After their kiss at the final battle, she thought that they had a chance of becoming something. She had liked Ron for ages, and she wanted to see if there was something there. However, she wasn’t blind to his weaknesses, one of which was his lack of confidence. Honestly, just because she knew another boy didn’t mean she was going to fall in love with him!

 

“Probably because he is more handsome than you two put together,” Ginny said and winked at Hermione. “I don’t know, he seems friendly enough. What do you think, Hermione?”

 

Ron scowled at his sister, but looked at Hermione with interest.

 

“I don’t know,” Hermione said with a shrug. “He is polite and all that, but I’m not really looking to make new friends right now.”

 

Ron seemed pleased with the answer, and the conversation moved on to other subjects before they went their separate ways to work.

 

Hermione spent the day making more potions with Tom, but there was little room to talk; they were both focused on their work. Whenever she paused, she found herself glancing over at him, studying him.

 

His cutting, steering and pouring were all perfect and smooth. She didn’t remember seeing anyone that was this good since Snape. He must be a natural then, she decided. Was he as good with a wand? She had hardly seen him use it.

 

There was something about him that had her on her guard and curious at the same time, she realised.

 

After lunch, Hermione was asked to help with transfiguration instead. The Malfoys were back to help with the potion-making, so she was of more use elsewhere.

 

It wasn’t until after dinner that they got a break, and Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Ron finally got to sit down in the newly repaired Gryffindor tower. They would be alone there for the night.

 

“It looks the same, doesn’t it?” Ginny asked, looking around from her position on one of the sofas, leaning against Harry. They seemed to have casually tried to take up their relationship again after the war.

 

“It’s like I remember it,” Ron said. He and Hermione was sitting next to each other on the opposite sofa, but not touching. “Perhaps we should have redecorated while we were at it?”

 

“Yes, turned it all blue, and seen how people reacted,” Ginny said with a weak smile.

Hermione and Harry smiled as well, but it was forced. She wondered how long it would take before things went back to normal between them all. Perhaps it would be better if they talked about it? Had a good cry, comforted and found strength in each other?

 

Yet, for some reason, Hermione couldn’t bring it up herself.

 

“Merlin, I think I need some air,” Ginny suddenly said. “Harry, will you join me?”

 

Harry looked slightly puzzled, but he nodded and they left. Hermione smiled. Maybe it would be easier for them to be together, alone. They could work through it together, comfort each other. Ginny probably wanted to talk about their situation. Hermione hoped Harry was ready to have that talk. The two of them were meant to be together, and now, they finally had time to see that as well.

 

“Hermione?”

 

Ron snapped her back to the real world. She smiled at him. “Sorry, I was thinking.”

 

He smiled. She noticed he was nervous. Did it mean he wanted to do something? All of a sudden, Hermione craved some comfort as well. Just being close to someone, and knowing there were still good things in the world. Perhaps now was a good moment to just … continue what they had started at the final battle? Find comfort in each other, physically?

 

Should she take the first step? Or did he regret kissing her and wanted to tell her this couldn't be? She became nervous as well.

 

“So...,” she said and placed her hand so it was accessible for him, if he wanted to take it.

 

Ron took her hand and she let out the breath she had been holding, as their fingers started to play with each other. Although, a whole new sort of nervousness began in her stomach.

 

“I...,” Ron began, but then quietened. “How have you been? I mean, really?”

 

Hermione was touched by his concern. “I've managed. One day at a time, you know. Just trying to keep myself occupied so I don't think too much. How about you?”

 

Ron was quiet for a while. “I really miss him.”

 

He didn't need to say it out loud for her to know whom he was referring to. Hermione squeezed his hand.

 

“I just can't believe he’s gone. Every time I see George, I expect Fred to be right behind him, but he never is.” Ron had clearly been holding this inside for some time now. Hermione squeezed his hand harder, encouraging him to go on. He needed to talk about it. Too often did he keep things in. Mostly, she guessed, because he wasn't sure of what to say. It would do him good to let some of it out now.

 

“George can't even look at himself in the mirror without getting sad. Hell, we can't even look at him without being reminded of Fred! That's why Ginny and I decided to come here for a while ... not much we can do there.” Ron swallowed.

 

Hermione leaned in closer so he could hug her if he wanted. He did. She felt something wet hit her shoulder, but just stroked his back. Tears were healthy in times like this. It was good for him to let them out. Hopefully he wouldn't let some idea about macho boys not crying stop him.

 

She wasn't aware of how long they sat there, but after a while, Ron began to press her closer to him. She moved from her seat over to his lap and they began kissing. It wasn't the best kiss, but it was sweet and she could feel how much Ron needed it. He pawed at her body and managed to find one or two very pleasurable spots, but unfortunately didn't stay there for too long. However, Hermione was in the time of the month where she could become horny quite easily. Or maybe it was just the need for comfort. Either way, she wanted to get on with it.

 

It didn't take long until they were both naked and lying down on the sofa, on their sides, facing each other. Ron was rock hard and already trying to find her opening with his cock, as his hands were occupied with her breasts. Hermione sighed and moved her hand down to his cock. She frowned when she realised how thick he was. She wasn't wet enough to take this inside of her! Although, that could easily be fixed. She moved his cock toward her cunt and started to rub against him, creating some fiction on her clit. Unfortunately, this was too much for Ron and he came against her pubic hair.

 

They lay together for a moment, Hermione feeling very unsatisfied. Even though she could understand that Ron was inexperienced and couldn't stop himself from coming all over her, it didn't stop him from pleasuring her with his hands. Should she tell him that? Hm, maybe not this time. He was very upset after all. There would be plenty of time on later occasions. She was sure she could teach him what she liked.

 

“That was good,” he suddenly said. “Don't you think?”

 

Hermione frowned. Did Ron really think that had been good for her? A thought suddenly struck her. Maybe this was his first time! Then he wouldn't know what was good or bad. She did not trust the older Weasley brothers to have given him a correct picture. They would laugh at the thought of him making a fool of himself in bed.

 

Nevertheless, you shouldn't lie in a relationship. Especially not about something as important as sex.

 

“Not really,” she finally answered.

 

Ron's eyes snapped opened. “What?”

 

She frowned. “Well, I didn't come, so I didn't enjoy it very much. But for a first time—”

 

“What do you mean 'for a first time'?” he demanded.

 

Hermione sighed. Perhaps she should have seen this coming. Ron always became so upset when he thought there was something he couldn't do. “I'm just saying, it takes time to get to know a woman's body, but you get the idea eventually—”

 

Ron sat up. “Lavender never complained! Seriously, Hermione, not everyone can reach the high standards you have for everything!”

 

Hermione was hurt. “I don't think its a high standard making a woman come while having sex—”

 

“Well, then you shouldn't be so slow coming!” Ron hissed.

 

“What's the matter with you?” Hermione snapped, getting angry as well. “No one is great at sex at once; I just thought I should point out what we could work on to improve it.”

 

“This isn't a bloody school-test!” Ron retorted. “I just thought I would be nice and make sure you weren't the last virgin at Hogwarts!”

 

Hermione gaped at him, hardly believing what she was hearing. She pushed him off of her and rose. “Well, if that was all this was, you could have saved yourself the trouble! I haven't been a virgin for a long time now!”

 

She became even angrier when she saw how surprised Ron was after he heard this. She put on her clothes and stormed out of the dorm.

 

xxx

 

Tom was very bored. For the past week, all he had done was help at Hogwarts, and tried (and failed) to find a way out of Salazar’s grasp. His ancestor was with him most of the day, hanging back in the shadows, making sure he didn’t create any trouble. Not that Tom knew what sort of trouble he could make. He was still trying to find out what had happened in the world for the past fifty years.

 

It had been easy enough to find books about the Wizarding World’s history, but he was constantly met with references he didn’t understand. A lot of the cultural things, he could brush off by being a “foreigner”, however, it seemed as if there were Muggle things to keep track of as well. He had spoken to a Hufflepuff, while working the day before, who had talked about something called a “computer”. Tom had no idea what it meant, but according to the Hufflepuff, it was some cool Muggle contraption which wizards could benefit from using.

 

Tom highly doubted that there was anything the Muggles could do that would be of benefit to wizards, but he had just smiled and nodded along.

 

It was all Salazar’s fault that Tom had been talking to the Hufflepuff to begin with. Salazar wanted him to test different wizards to find out which one would be worthy of being his Blood Brother. Thus far, no one had pleased Salazar, much to Tom’s satisfaction.

 

“Why aren’t we testing witches as well?” Tom finally asked, when they had been through every male that was helping at Hogwarts during the summer. He was on his way back to the room he had been assigned on the fifth floor.

 

“Witches?” Salazar snorted. “They would just run away at the sight of Jörmungandr. They aren’t built to handle this sort of thing.”

 

Tom arched an eyebrow at his ancestor. “Only Muggles are that sexist. Witches are in general as useful as wizards when it comes to magical power.”

 

He recalled the witch he had dreamed about again, Bella, he had called her. He still wasn’t sure exactly who she was, but in his dreams, she had been his devoted follower for a long time. Yes, he was well aware of how powerful and useful witches could be.

 

They were just walking up the stairs to the fifth floor when he saw Granger storm down the stairs from the sixth floor. She looked absolutely furious, and her hair seemed to be standing in all directions, crackling with magic.

 

“Hermione? Has something happened?” he asked, stopping on the landing to the fifth floor.

 

Hermione looked as if she was ready to hex him. He could feel the magic building up inside of her. He readied himself to draw his wand and cast a shield if needed. However, all she did was inhale deeply.

 

“Ron fucking Weasley happened. I’ll have to talk to you some other time, Tom,” she said, and continued to storm down the stairs.

 

Tom watched her until she turned a corner and disappeared. A plan had started to form in his head. He didn’t know if it was just because he wanted to annoy Salazar by using a Mudblood witch to control the Serpent of the World, or because he could use the powerful Gryffindor to get his revenge on Potter. However, it was now clear to him who he wanted to share a blood bond with.

 

“As I was saying,” he said, turning to Salazar. “Perhaps we could look into the alternative of getting a Blood Sister instead?”

 

Salazar had also watched the Mudblood, but now he was eyeing Tom thoughtfully.

 

“She is clearly powerful enough, and has that power under control,” Tom continued. “And she gave up everything to defeat me so I think it’s safe to say she would feel obligated to save the world, and then make sure the bloodline continues.”

 

Salazar wrinkled his nose. “She’s a Mudblood.”

 

“She’ll share my blood, will she not? Then she won’t be a Mudblood anymore,” Tom reasoned. “Isn’t it more important that she is powerful enough? And she fought in the war, so I don’t think a big snake is going to scare her.”

 

Salazar eyed him suspiciously. “You don’t like Mudbloods anymore than I do, Tom. What are you planning?”

 

Tom sighed. “Well, it’s clear that we are not going to find any worthy Blood Brother at Hogwarts anytime soon. And I want this taken care of as soon as possible, so I won’t have to be followed by you all the time. I can overlook her Mudblood status for that.”

 

Salazar gazed down the stairs, where the girl had just disappeared. “I will look into her history.”

 

Tom hid a smile. Salazar could clearly see that Tom was right, and that made him unhappy. That in turn, left a very, very pleased Tom.

 

xxx

 

For the next couple of days, Hermione and Ron didn’t talk to each other. Hermione buried herself in the chores McGonagall gave her, and didn’t eat at the same table as Ron. Harry didn’t seem to understand what had happened, but he still tried to make peace.

 

“Can’t you just talk it out?” he asked one morning at breakfast. He seemed to alternate between spending one meal with her and the other with Ron, making sure not to take a side.

 

“Not until he has apologised,” Hermione growled, stabbing her fork into her mashed eggs.

 

Harry looked very uncomfortable and stared down at his tea cup.

 

Hermione’s eyes narrowed. “He wants me to apologise, doesn’t he?”

 

Harry sighed and looked up. “Yeah.”

 

Hermione pushed her plate away from her and rose. “No. He was the one who insulted me and I won’t take it anymore. I don’t have to take it. I’ll see you later.”

 

She stalked out of the kitchen and made her way outside through a secret passage, fuming. Of course Ron would continue to be an immature brat about this. Why was she even surprised? Truth be told, she was more disappointed than anything. After everything they had been through together, this was how he was behaving now? She knew he had a fragile ego, but did that mean she constantly had to reassure him about everything? She didn’t want to have a relationship with someone like that.

 

The secret passage lead her to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where she continued to walk alongside it. She was too angry to start working for the day, but with a brisk walk she could probably calm down enough to concentrate on the restoration.

 

She had just come out of view of Hogwarts when she was attacked. Her wand was snatched from her pocket and she was sent flying backwards. Completely taken by surprised, Hermione tried to scramble to her feet, but her attacker immobilised her.

 

Lying stiffly on the ground, face down, she felt herself being magically lifted and levitated towards the Forbidden Forest, floating just a few inches above the ground.

 

She tried to summon her own magic to break free of the spell, but when that didn’t work, she decided to wait. Whoever it was that had kidnapped her clearly wanted something from her, or she would have been dead already. She didn’t look forward to being tortured again, but if she had been able to trick Bellatrix Lestrange, she could probably fool whoever had her now. Besides, if they stayed within the school grounds, casting the Unforgivables would alert the Headmistress.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that they had entered the Forbidden Forest. However, they didn’t travel far until she was dumped on the ground again and flipped over.

 

Hermione finally glimpsed her attacker.

 

It was that Swedish boy, Tom Dolder. But why on earth would he want to attack her?

 

“So what do I do now?” Tom asked, looking at someone out of her sight.

 

Hermione stared at him. Who was he working with?

 

“How much blood?” Tom suddenly asked, and Hermione’s eyes widened. Had the person behind her said something? Why hadn’t she heard that?

 

Tom kneeled next to her, and a knife appeared in his hand as he reached for her wrist. Hermione steeled herself. At least knives didn’t hurt as much as the Cruciatus Curse.

 

Just before the knife was going to cut into her arm, he paused and looked up again, a frown of annoyance on his face.

 

“Why didn’t you say so at once? How deep?”

 

Hermione could feel her heart speed up even more. It was very unnerving that she didn’t know who else was there, and that she couldn’t hear that person. Or persons.

 

Tom stuck the knife into the ground just under her arm and dug a hole. That baffled Hermione. Why was he digging a hole in the ground with the knife? Come to think of it, the knife looked very special. She couldn’t see it clearly because of the angle, but she was sure there were some engravings on the handle. A ceremonial knife, probably. And if he was going to need blood, it had to be a dark ritual. No one used blood rituals for good things anymore, like marriages. It was considered old-fashioned since you could never break a blood bond, and a modern couple wanted the option of a divorce.

 

She tried to remember every dark blood ritual she had read about, but she couldn’t think of a single one that required a hole in the ground.

 

“So now it’s just the blood?” Tom asked and then sighed.

 

He brought the knife back to her wrist, and slit it. Hermione wanted to let out a scream, sure that her blood would start spurting in every direction, but that didn’t happen. She could feel the tingle of magic and just a small stream of blood started to trickle into the ground. What was he doing? Was he going to bleed her out slowly?

 

However, when he put the knife to his own wrist and slit it too, fear turned to surprise. His blood also started to flow in a controlled trickle into the hole.

 

The feeling of magic increased when he pressed his wrist against hers, and turned them over, so the blood could drip down into the hole in the ground together, mixed in the same trickle of blood.

 

Hermione could feel magic starting to flow up the arm that was pressed against Tom, and into the rest of her body. It slowly spread over her chest, down her body, and at the same time up to her head. As it did, she started to hear another voice. It was weak at first, but turned stronger the more the magic spread.

 

“… blod blir samma för evigt,” the voice said and Hermione felt her whole body turn incredibly hot for a moment, and then it cooled down.

 

She realised she could move again, and quickly rolled away from Tom and leapt to her feet. However, before she could make a run for it, someone grabbed her.

 

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Hermione, but I’m afraid you can’t leave before I’ve explained what’s going on.” The man who spoke to her was tall, with long black hair, and deep grey eyes. He was dressed in a long black and green robe, with snakes embroidered onto it. It looked outdated, but very expensive.

 

Hermione tried to kick him to escape, but it didn’t seem to faze him.

 

“I’m Salazar Slytherin, and I need you to help me save the world. Again.”

  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening my dear readers! Here is a new chapter which I hope will be to your satisfaction after my cliffhanger, mehehehe.
> 
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> 
> As always, Ozzy, my love, my star, my beta extraordinary! Many cookies for you!
> 
>  
> 
> I also want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, subscribed, kudos:ed and in other ways shown their appreciation for this fic! Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

 

Hermione stared at the man claiming to be Salazar Slytherin.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Hermione bellowed and finally managed to pull herself away from the man, stumbling a few steps backwards. Her eyes flew between Tom and the new man.

 

“There, there, sister. Just calm down and we’ll explain everything,” Tom said and raised his hands to show that the knife was gone. However, he didn’t give her back her wand.

 

Hermione glared at him, but something was clearly off here. Sister? She knew there were blood rituals to adopt people; the oldest types of blood rituals were about tying family bonds after all, but why would someone want to adopt her?

 

“What is going on?” she asked again. “Who are you two?”

 

“I told you, I’m Salazar Slytherin,” the long haired man said, looking slightly annoyed.

 

“That’s impossible,” Hermione proclaimed. “Slytherin has been dead for a thousand years at least.”

 

“I’m very much dead, yes. But since when has that stopped wizards?” he answered and slowly took a step towards her. “Especially when I still have work to do. Like making sure my heir doesn’t get into trouble.”

 

He glared at Tom.

 

“Your heir?” Hermione asked, looking at Tom. “I thought your heir was— No!”

 

Tom’s smile broadened. “Yes, death doesn’t seem to stick in this family, does it? I wonder how long it will take before you die and come back, dear sister.”

 

“This can’t be happening,” Hermione muttered and slowly started to move backwards. “You can’t be Voldemort! I saw your body! I helped them burn it!”

 

Tom and Slytherin followed her. “Well, it seems like the world wasn’t quite finished with me yet. Salazar brought me back.”

 

Hermione stared at Slytherin. Well, at least she was starting to believe he was Slytherin. If Voldemort was alive, then why couldn’t Salazar bloody Slytherin be as well? However, she hadn’t ruled out the possibility of this being some horrible nightmare.

 

“Why don’t we continue this discussion indoors?” Slytherin suggested. “We wouldn’t want someone to interrupt us, now, would we?”

 

Quicker than Hermione had time to react, he disappeared and reappeared right next to her, taking her hand. He stretched out his other hand and Tom took it. The next moment Hermione felt a sensation similar to Apparation. A breath later, they were standing inside the Chamber of Secrets.

 

“But you can’t Apparate inside of Hogwarts,” she whispered in disbelief. Everything was starting to feel more and more surreal, if that was even possible.

 

“Girl, I built Hogwarts. I can do whatever I please,” Slytherin said with a smile and let go of Tom. “Come here.”

 

He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around and step through a door she hadn’t noticed the last time she had been down here. Behind it lay something that looked like a very old-fashioned bedroom.

 

Hermione was at a loss on what she should do or believe. If Tom really was Voldemort reborn, she had to warn everyone. But what about Slytherin? He had claimed to be dead, but he didn’t look like a ghost. What was he? And why had he brought back Voldemort? And what was Tom playing at by calling her his sister? If Slytherin and Voldemort were working together, Hermione couldn’t think of any reason why those two would want to make her a sister to any of them. No, something here didn’t make sense.

 

Neither did they seem to want to torture her. They were forceful, but polite in some strange way. That confused her too. She doubted that she was in any immediate danger, but perhaps she should try to run regardless? But how would she overpower both of them without her wand? She hadn’t seen where Tom had hid hers.

 

“I can see that you are confused, Hermione,” Slytherin said, his voice friendly. “Sit down and I’ll explain everything. You are not in any danger, not from us at least. However, the whole world is in danger. I need your help.”

 

“Why did you strike me down, then?” Hermione asked, deciding that the best thing she could do was to get more information to narrow things down. “If you wanted my help, you could just have asked.”

 

“No, I couldn’t,” Slytherin said with a sigh. “Only people of my blood can see me. You weren’t of my blood before. But you are now. However, time is something we lack, and I couldn’t work through my heir. The moment you had found out who needed your help, you would have realised who Tom really is. I apologise for the drastic measures, but if you let me explain, you will understand why.”

 

Hermione looked from Tom, or rather, Tom _Riddle_ , to Slytherin. Riddle’s face was unreadable, but Slytherin looked sincere.

 

“Am I a prisoner?” Hermione asked slowly.

 

Slytherin shook his head. “No. Not really. But I must insist that you listen to me before you leave. You have no idea how important it is.”

 

Hermione studied his face, trying to fathom his intentions. She had tried to practice Legilimency, but she had no idea how good she was. Besides, she didn’t know how well Legilimency worked on someone who was dead. She sighed. “Very well. I won’t leave until you have talked to me. But I want him to return my wand first.”

 

Slytherin sighed. “Do you swear not to try and curse your way out of here if you get it back? I have to warn you, I’m capable of stopping you. We are inside the Chambers of Secrets, and I know every secret there is to know down here. You won’t get out unless I want you to.”

 

Hermione didn’t know if he was bluffing, but she didn’t plan to test him. She just wanted her wand back. It would make her feel safer and more inclined to actually listen to him.

 

Slytherin sighed again and stretched out his hand to Riddle. A flash of annoyance was evident on Riddle’s face, but then it turned unreadable again as he handed Slytherin Hermione’s wand.

 

Hermione relaxed just a tiny bit when her wand was back in her hand again. “Now, what is it you want to talk to me about?”

 

“Tom, go and wait in the other room,” Slytherin ordered.

 

Riddle looked surprised. “What for?”

 

“Because I said so.” Slytherin made a gesture with his arm and the door opened.

 

Riddle scowled, but stalked out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

 

Hermione was equally surprised. Slytherin must have spotted it because he sighed.

 

“Believe me when I say my heir and I have few things in common. I only resurrected him because the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As my only heir, he is the last person able to control Jörmungandr. Thankfully, you can now do that too.”

 

Hermione tried to search her memory for what on earth Jörmungandr could be. It sounded Scandinavian, but other than that, her mind drew a black. “What is Jörmungandr?”

 

“In Norse Mythology, he is called the Serpent of the World. He is a creation of my ancestor, Loki, and very much real, lying at the bottom of the ocean. If he awakens, it will be the end of humanity, both wizard and Muggle.”

 

Hermione stared at Slytherin, once again wondering if this was all a dream. “Are you telling me you are related to a _god_?”

 

Slytherin scoffed. “There is no such thing as a god. The people of Asgard were powerful wizards who lived thousands of years ago. Muggles heard stories about them and with time, a cult was created around these stories. My family are descendants of Loki, and from him comes our power to speak to serpents. This is because we need to control Jörmungandr. Ever since Loki created him, we have kept him asleep at the bottom of the ocean.”

 

Hermione frowned. “Why is that?”

 

“If he awakens, he will stir up the oceans and create tidal waves and earthquakes the likes of which you have never seen. Once he is awake, he will be hungry, and he will move up to land, eating everything in his way. Jörmungandr is enormous. He will destroy the world just to feed himself. He is Rangarök, the end of the world.”

 

“If he is so dangerous, why not just kill him?” Hermione asked, suspicious. If there was a huge serpent lying at the bottom of the ocean, wouldn’t someone have discovered it by now?

 

“Loki was a great sorcerer,” Slytherin said with a sigh. “He made Jörmungandr invincible. Over the years, some in my family have tried to find a way to destroy him, without destroying the world. But no one has figured it out. Therefore, we use magic to keep him asleep. It has worked for thousands of years, but now, because of the foolishness of my heir and his mother, Jörmungandr could awaken.

 

“He is sensitive to magic, especially the magic that comes from the blood of his creator. He has begun to stir, creating small tidal waves. You will read about more in the coming years. It will take some time for him to properly awaken, a couple of years perhaps. But we can’t let that happen. Someone needs to go down to him and refreshen the spells over him.

 

“As I’m sure you understand, I can’t trust Tom with this. But since he was my last heir, he had to come back so I could create another heir from him. You are that one. You’ll carry my legacy now, Miss Granger,” Slytherin said softly.

 

Hermione studied him critically. “I guess that’s where I have a hard time believing you. Everyone knows that you distrust Muggle-borns. Your house is famous for that. Why on earth would you chose me if all this was true?”

 

“Due to that ritual, you are no longer a Muggle-born. You are of my blood,” Slytherin said, looking a bit uncomfortable. “The important thing is that you are a powerful and disciplined witch.”

 

Hermione crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you. It’s not really the blood that’s the big issue for Muggleborn-haters, it’s the legacy. I come from the Muggle world, and that isn’t going to change just because of some ritual.”

 

Slytherin straightened and glared down at her. “Indeed. Do you want me to tell you how sickening it is to share my blood with that of Muggles? Well, that was the case with Tom as well. But he severed all his ties to the Muggle world, and so have you. I believe you erased your parents’ memories of you?”

 

“I didn’t do that for the same reasons as Voldemort did,” Hermione argued, angry. “I did that to protect them!”

 

“Well, consider this a continuation of that protection. You are a Slytherin now, girl.”

 

“Why the bloody hell did you chose me when you clearly dislike it so much?” Hermione asked, both angry and confused.

 

Slytherin gave her a dark look. “You don’t understand the severity of this situation. Beggars can’t be choosers. If Jörmungandr awakens, it will be the end of all wizards. I would rather sully my own bloodline than let that happen. I’ve always cared more about the Wizarding world than any of the other Founders. Muggles could have destroyed us when we created Hogwarts, if it wasn’t for my protection. That’s why I dislike seeing Mudbloods at Hogwarts. There are always those of your kin that hate the idea of wizards. I didn’t want to take that risk, but the others overruled me.”

 

“Well, creating a monster that kills Mudbloods hardly softens Muggles’ view of wizards,” Hermione pointed out.

 

Slytherin huffed. “The winner writes history, Hermione. I left the ‘monster’, as you call it, to train my descendants to control Jörmungandr. Then Tom came and saw the same uses of it that Gryffindor once had. Don’t you find it strange that so many of my heirs have been to Hogwarts, but there have been no deaths since Tom’s time?”

 

“Am I really supposed to believe that?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

 

Slytherin sighed, and then went over to the opposite wall. He waved his hand over it, and the stones in the wall started to disappear, revealing a hidden chamber. Slytherin disappeared into it for a moment, and when he returned he was holding a big silver basin in his hand. It’s edge was covered with runes, and Hermione immediately recognised it as a Scrying basin. She scoffed.

 

“If you expect to convince me with Divination—”

 

Slytherin huffed. “This isn’t Divination, girl. Divination is bogus and full of guesswork. We are not Scrying for the future, we are Scrying to see something that is here now, but at another place. I’ll show you Jörmungandr and where he resides.”

 

He held up his hand again and the basin was filled with clear water.

 

“I didn’t know Scrying could be used to see things at other places,” Hermione said with a frown.

 

“It is a lost art,” Slytherin answered. “Mostly because it became forbidden some five hundred years ago. Wizards didn’t like that people could spy on them without their knowledge. All you need is something that connects you with the person or object you wish you see. Our blood connects us with Jörmungandr, and the incantation to make sure we just see him, and not someone else of our blood is simple. Observe.”

 

A knife appeared in his hand and he pricked his finger, letting one drop of blood fall into the basin. “ _Show me Jörmungandr_.”

 

The water in the basin started to swirl, and change colours. Watching it almost made Hermione dizzy. Thankfully, it was over after just a few seconds, and when the water became still, she saw that it showed something underwater. It was dark, but somehow, she could still see everything clearly. Rocks were lying at the bottom of the ocean floor, stretching along for as far as could be seen. Between the rocks was an enormous head. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was enormous, because it was hard to get perspective, but yet, she knew. The head looked like that of a dragon more than of a serpent. Even though she could see where the eyes were because of the formation of scales around them, Jörmungandr had his eyelids closed, unlike normal snakes that didn’t have eyelids at all.

 

“What is that by its mouth?” Hermione asked, suddenly noticing the weird protrusion that lay in front of the head, but came from something that was out of view.

 

“It’s his tail,” Slytherin said softly. “Jörmungandr is lying in the ocean around the Antarctic, and he is long enough that he can reach his own tail, just as the myth claims. You can imagine how much destruction he can cause by just moving. And just like a Basilisk, his eyes can kill, if he wants to. That is why I left a Basilisk here. My descendants needed to learn to control such a big creature, if worst came to worst. They are not like normal serpents, which follow our every whim. You need to gain their respect.”

 

Hermione wasn’t sure she actually could imagine the amount of destruction, but her brain told her it was loads. Loads and loads. The thought made her queasy. Had they saved the world just to have it swallowed by this huge beast?

 

“How do I know this is real and not some illusion?” Hermione finally asked.

 

“Can you take the chance that it isn’t real?” Slytherin asked, his tone serious. “I will give you some text to read up on him, which also contain the enchantments to keep him asleep. Do any tests you want on them to convince yourself that they are real. I know you can read runes.”

 

Hermione nodded. In Ancient Runes, she had learned simple spells that could tell how old an object was, and if it had been tampered with or not. It helped researchers determine if the runes they were using were legit or not.

 

“But what about Riddle?” Hermione asked.

 

Slytherin sighed. “I can keep him under control for now. If anything were to happen to you, I will need him to make another Blood Sibling. And you have enemies, Hermione.”

 

“Can’t I make another Blood Sibling?” Hermione asked.

 

Slytherin shook his head. “No, the magic of Blood Siblings doesn’t work that way. You and Tom are not siblings in the traditional sense. He is flesh, magic and blood, you are just magic and blood. If you were to create a Blood Sibling, the magic would not pass through that bond, and it is the magic we need to stop Jörmungandr. However, your children, when you have them, will be both flesh and blood, and therefore, magic as well. Thus, your children will be able to make Blood Siblings that will be my heirs. And that is why I can’t risk losing Tom until either of you have had children.”

 

Hermione found that a bit peculiar, and decided to read up on the subject of Blood Siblings. She didn’t like that Riddle was still here, able to do more harm. “So you’ll let Tom go free until one of us has a child?”

 

“Not free. As long as he remains at Hogwarts, I can control him,” Slytherin said. “I created him with my magic, and I can make him as powerless as a Muggle if I have to, and still be able to sire magical children.”

 

Hermione, who knew that even a Muggle was capable of causing great damage, wasn’t impressed. “And what about outside of Hogwarts?”

 

Slytherin made a grimace. “I’m dead, Hermione. I have power here because I put my soul and magic into building Hogwarts. But outside of Hogwarts, I’m not even a ghost, I can’t leave Hogwarts’ grounds.”

 

Hermione shivered at the thought. She felt sorry for ghosts, but at least they could move through the world and interact with living creatures. Slytherin could only interact with his relatives, and not see anything other than Hogwarts, for all eternity. To Hermione, that was a certain kind of hell.

 

“What do you plan to let Riddle do in the meantime, then?” Hermione finally asked.

 

“Attend his last year at Hogwarts. By then, I hope that you will have been able to travel to Jörmungandr and put him to sleep again, thus taking care of the immediate problem.”

 

“But I had planned to finish Hogwarts as well,” Hermione replied, frowning again.

 

“By all means, do so. In fact, that is to our advantage. I can teach you a lot of things, Hermione. More than just how to control Jörmungandr. You are a more worthy heir than Tom, both of you have a Muggle inheritance, but at least you didn’t go mad from it.”

 

She didn’t know if she should take that as a compliment or an insult. But one thing was certain; she was going to keep her guard up around both of them. If this was some kind of trick, she did not want them to succeed.

 

“May I leave now?” Hermione asked.

 

Slytherin regarded her for a moment, then he nodded. “Yes. However, I must ask you to keep this a secret. If Tom is discovered, he will be taken out of Hogwarts, and I won’t be able to control him. He would be much more dangerous.”

 

Hermione was about to object, but then she remembered that if Sirius Black could break free from Azkaban, then Lord Voldemort would surely be able to do it. Especially now, when there were no longer any Dementors at Azkaban. She had no idea how much Dark Arts he knew, but she didn’t doubt that he would use everything in his arsenal to flee the Ministry. At least he seemed to have some form of respect, or fear, for Slytherin, considering that he actually followed his orders.

 

“How much does he remember from his past life?” Hermione asked when the question suddenly hit her.

 

“I’m not certain. When I brought him back to life, he thought he was still at Hogwarts, just about to turn seventeen. I repaired his soul when I restored him, and he was almost seventeen the first time he split it, so that’s why all the memories up until that moment are intact. However, I can’t be sure if memories from the other parts of his soul will come back over time. Not that it matters much. I’ve already found him in the library several times, reading about himself. He knows much about what happens, even if he doesn’t remember it.”

 

Hermione wasn’t sure what to think about that. On one hand, it was probably easier to deal with a Dark Lord who didn’t carry the memory of all the knowledge he had no doubt collected in the years after Hogwarts. Despite that, he was still a very dangerous and clever wizard to deal with, and she couldn’t for a moment let down her guard.

 

“Very well. Give me the scrolls you have about Jörmungandr and we can talk later tonight,” Hermione said. She realised that she was actually starting to believe Slytherin. He probably did want to save the world. Nevertheless, she would double check and triple check that he was telling the truth.

 

Slytherin disappeared into the hidden chamber again and returned with a sealed scroll container. He gave it to her.

 

“Be careful with it, the parchment hasn’t been read in a very long time. You’ll need to refresh the protective spells around it before you read it.”

 

Hermione nodded and took the container. “How do I get out of here?”

 

Slytherin opened the outer door again and she saw Riddle standing right behind it. He had a grim expression on his face.

 

“I’ll take you upstairs again,” Slytherin said. “You’ll continue to act as if nothing has changed.”

 

Riddle scowled and didn’t say anything as Slytherin put a hand on him, and the other on Hermione. The next moment, they were transported upstairs.

 

xxx

 

Slytherin left them without warning upon reaching the second floor. Granger looked surprised by this, and Tom snorted.

 

“Yes, our honoured ancestor does that sometimes. He is quite mysterious,” Tom drawled.

 

Granger glared at him and stopped walking. “I just want to make one thing clear, Riddle—”

 

“Dolder. Or Tom. I think we should be on first name basis, dear sister,” Tom interrupted cheerfully.

 

“Fine. _Tom_. I know Slytherin needs you right now, but don’t for one moment think that I’ll stand by and let you do whatever you wish,” Hermione hissed. “If you try to hurt me or any of my friends, I’ll—”

 

Tom sighed loudly, interrupting her again. “First off, Granger, I wouldn’t _try_ to hurt any of your friends, I would succeed. And if I wished to, you wouldn’t be able to stop me, and no petty threat you could think off would discourage me from doing whatever I wanted to.”

 

Granger stared at him in disbelief. “But Slytherin said—”

 

“Yes, exactly. Slytherin is the threat here, not you. So if I were to find a way out of his control, what makes you think you could do anything to stop me? And just so we are perfectly clear: I’m not here to follow your orders. You can do nothing. If you kill me, Slytherin will resurrect me again and possibly kill you. If you try to expose me, Slytherin will have to silence you. If you hurt me…” He trailed off, looking smug. “Oh, Granger, you are welcome to try. But I will give back with everything I’ve got. Better, even. And Slytherin will understand that I acted in self-defence. The only thing I’m not allowed to do is kill you.”

 

Tom leaned closer to her, and stroked her hair away back from her face and whispered: “But that’s only for as long as Slytherin can control me. And he knows he won’t be able to keep me for long. So if I were you, sister, I’d stay on my good side.”

 

Granger pushed him away, and he chuckled, allowing himself to be pushed away.

  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ozzy! My love, my star, my beta! Lots of cookies for you for all your hard work making this readable.
> 
> And to everyone who has read, reviewed, subscribed, faved and kudos:ed - thank you so, so much! It means the world to me!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 5**

_He was sitting inside a dark room, stroking the head of a snake. Nagini, his mind recalled. The snake was almost asleep, her big head in his lap. She had just eaten, and she always became tired afterwards. A nice juicy Muggle boy had been her treat today._

 

“ _My Lord? You called for us?” A tall, pale man with black greasy hair came in through the door. Behind him was a blond boy, who was trembling in fear. Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy. Yes, he remembered their names clearly._

 

“ _Sit down,” he said, gesturing towards_ _the armchairs across the table from him. He also waved his wand towards the fireplace, creating some light in the dark room. He didn’t need light to see, but he knew the other two did._

 

_Snape casually took his seat, looking as unimpressed as ever, while Malfoy turned even paler after one look at_ _Nagini. Voldemort ignored it._

 

“ _You are the two situated closest to Potter. I want to hear everything you know about him. No matter how insignificant the detail.”_

 

_Snape was the one who started_ _talking, and who had the most to say. Malfoy added something now and again, his voice low and weak. Pathetic boy._

 

“ _What about his friends, then?” Voldemort finally asked. “Ronald Weasley, can we hurt Potter through him?”_

 

“ _I’m sure we can, my Lord. If anyone was hurt because of Potter, it would break Potter’s spirit. But other than that, he would not be useful to us. A mediocre wizard, and well, you know about the Weasley family. Nothing to gain from them otherwise,” Snape said._

 

“ _And his other close friend, the Mudblood?” Voldemort asked._

 

_Malfoy let out an angry snort. Voldemort turned his eyes towards him, and Malfoy quickly averted his gaze. Snape frowned at his student._

 

“ _Granger is by far the cleverest of the three,” Snape said. “But that is only because she reads, does_ _her homework and can repeat what it says. No originality or improvisation. She is an obnoxious know-it-all.”_

 

“ _But she is very violent,” Malfoy added darkly._

 

_Voldemort looked at him, mildly surprised. “How is that?”_

 

“ _She has a mean right-hook,” Malfoy said. “And I think she did something to Rita Skeeter; blackmailed her or hexed her or something. She asked if Granger had any weaknesses a few months ago. And she hasn’t written anything about Granger or Potter since last term.”_

 

“ _Is that so?” Voldemort asked and looked at Snape for confirmation._

 

_Snape was looking thoughtful. “I have not noticed any violent tendencies in the classroom. Quite the opposite, she is always eager to be praised_ _and sucks up to the_ _authorities.”_

 

“ _Interesting,” Voldemort remarked._

 

Tom woke up slowly, the memory lingering as he yawned and stretched. Meeting Hermione Granger had definitely proven that she was indeed of a violent nature. But she could control herself, and she seemed to have overcome her reluctance to improvise, instead of just following textbook instructions. Well, war did change people.

 

A knock on the door was heard. Guessing who it was, Tom didn’t bother to put on his shirt, and went to open the door in just his sleeping pants.

 

“Bloody hell, Tom, put on a shirt!” Granger greeted him. Slytherin stood behind her, looking disapprovingly at Tom.

 

Tom just smiled. “Please, come in.”

 

Nothing brightened up his morning more than watching Granger squirm. She may not be a blushing virgin, but it was clear she found his intimate behaviour towards her unnerving, and that was just what Tom wanted. As long as she was occupied with feeling uncomfortable, she wouldn’t notice what else he was up to. If only the same strategy worked on Slytherin as well.

 

He had hoped to use Granger’s Muggle background and Slytherin’s hatred towards Muggles to pit them against each other. If they started fighting each other, then his work would be so much simpler. However, he had completely misjudged Slytherin. Or rather, how desperate his ancestor really was. As long as Granger studied whatever lesson Slytherin was teaching her, he seemed fine with whatever else Granger thought or said. Tom would have given a lot to hear what Slytherin was teaching his adopted sister. Alas, Slytherin would throw him out and erect blood wards against him whenever Granger’s lessons were being held.

 

Although, that did give Tom an excellent opportunity to do whatever he wanted. He had managed to read up on most of what had happened in the last fifty years, and the stream of memories that came to him each night filled in some of the blanks of his own personal history.

 

He still hadn’t completely decided on what he would do once he had got rid of Slytherin’s interference. But he was young. Again. He had tested his own body, and he was indeed, in every way, seventeen years old. That meant he had plenty of time before he had to worry about dying of old age. Add to that the memories of his old self, and he was sure he would figure out a new way to immortality in due time.

 

In fact, he had found some rather interesting information when he had read up on his other ancestor, Loki. The Æsir had all been immortal after all (until they had killed each other), and knowing that they had in fact been real further piqued Tom’s interest. But it was still very vague, and Tom knew he needed to find better sources before he could actually make any plans. That meant leaving Hogwarts.

 

“Tom,” Slytherin called for his attention, and Tom went over to them, now with a t-shirt on.

 

He sat down next to Granger on the small sofa, which yet again, made her give him an uncomfortable look. She didn’t like him one bit.

 

“Hermione and I just received information that Hogwarts will open in the fall,” Slytherin said. “Professor McGonagall has sent out letters to all the old students, and has started to search for teachers.”

 

“That’s good then,” Tom remarked. “So when will you give McGonagall your recommendation, to let me finish my final year here?”

 

He looked sweetly at Granger, who wrinkled her nose in a grimace.

 

“Hermione has promised to do so once we hear of how many students are expected to be back,” Slytherin said. “With any luck, McGonagall will agree if there are many seventh years missing. We will place you in Gryffindor.”

 

“Why Gryffindor?” Tom asked, slightly annoyed. He didn’t plan to stick around long enough to actually get sorted, but the thought of staying in Gryffindor was nauseating.

 

“It will be good for your disguise,” Slytherin said. “You are too much of a Slytherin, and we can’t have you raising suspicions. You will have to start acting more reckless.”

 

“Not every Gryffindor is reckless,” Granger objected, also looking annoyed at the prospect of sharing a house with him.

 

“No, but it would be better if Tom stopped acting like himself completely. We don’t need any suspicions,” Slytherin said.

 

Tom didn’t say anything. Did Salazar really think he was acting like himself right now? Well, that would explain why Salazar had said that “Voldemort” had been crazy. When the perfect opportunity arose, he could show his ancestor just how little he had truly seen of Tom Riddle.

 

“Have you ever played Quidditch, Tom?” Salazar asked.

 

“Yes, and I’m not good enough to ever make it to a team,” Tom lied. If he put his mind to it, he could be a perfect Quidditch player, but he didn’t want to waste time on something so useless. “If I have to act like a Gryffindor, I think I’d be better off playing the carefree type. Partying, drinking, flirting.”

 

Granger looked appalled. “So you are going to take advantage of other girls?”

“Well, I could torture and murder them instead, if that would make you feel better.”

 

He ducked to the side, just before her fist made contact with his face. Violent indeed.

 

“Hermione,” Salazar said in a disapproving tone. “Don’t let him provoke you.”

 

Granger glared at him. “If you hurt any of them, physically or emotionally, I’ll—”

 

“Do nothing more than you would to any other teenage boy who acts like a teenage boy,” Salazar interrupted.

 

Granger looked absolutely murderous. “Being a teenage boy is no excuse for being an arse and treating women like playthings! And I wouldn’t stand by and just accept it, no matter who the teenage boy is.”

 

Tom was once again reminded of the night they had seen her storm away from the Gryffindor tower. He had overheard the Weasley boy complain enough to take a guess at what had happened. Clearly, Granger was still hurt by it. How useful.

 

“You are always welcome to scold, sister,” Tom said sweetly. “In fact, it would be better if I did play and discard one of your friends. Then, at least, you would have a reason to be so cross with me.”

 

Salazar nodded in agreement. “Yes, you are not as good an actor as Tom is, Hermione.”

 

“Excuse me for not making a living out of deceiving people,” Hermione growled and rose from the sofa. “I’ll go down to breakfast now, so I won’t have to risk people forcing me to _lie_ about my whereabouts.”

 

She stormed out of the room.

 

“You shouldn’t provoke her, Tom,” Salazar said.

 

“My mere existence provokes her, it doesn’t matter what I say,” Tom remarked. “But I have no doubt you’ll teach her how to hide that.”

 

“Jealous, are we?”

 

Tom snorted. “Of the Mudblood? No. We may call her your other heir, but that’s just a formality. You’ll use her to get your precious serpent under control, after that she is just a breeding mare. I’m sure you’ll trick her into getting into a relationship as soon as you find some worthy pureblood. Perhaps arrange a few mishaps with whatever contraceptive potion she uses, and voila, the next heir is on its way, ready to be taught everything you have told Granger.”

 

He rose from the sofa, heading towards his private bathroom.

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you, Tom,” Salazar said, making Tom pause. “You can be used as a breeding mare too.”

 

Tom laughed. “Yes, because sentimental as I am, I would of course do everything in my power to protect my offspring.”

 

Salazar didn’t respond to that and Tom continued to the bathroom, undressing before jumping into the shower. He knew Salazar would never dare to leave any children in Tom’s care. No, as soon as Granger got pregnant, Salazar would get rid of him.

 

Well, he would try to, at least.

xxx

 

Hermione left Riddle’s room in a dark mood. It had only been a week since she had found out who he really was, and she already had trouble keeping it to herself. She wanted to stand on top of the castle and scream it out. Hell, she wanted to push him down from the top of the castle and then scream it out!

 

But she couldn’t. Because the fate of the earth hung in the balance.

 

She had really tried to find out if Slytherin was lying, but all evidence suggested that he was telling the truth. Not that it was as much evidence as she would have liked. The only material she had was provided by Slytherin. Even though all her spells on it had checked out, she was aware that Slytherin knew magic no one else did. It was possible that he had forged the books and parchments.

 

However, she couldn’t understand why. Why would Slytherin do this, if he weren’t telling the truth? He never mentioned or complained about her Muggle background. She had tried to bait him a few times, but he had just frowned at her, and not responded. Instead, he was teaching her powerful spells that would help her control the Serpent of Midgard. Why would he do that if he and Voldemort were just going to use her? She had tried the spells on her own, and they did work.

 

“Hermione?” Ginny was standing at the end of the hallway and waved when she saw Hermione come closer.

 

“Good morning,” Hermione said. “On your way down to breakfast?”

 

“Yeah,” Ginny said, and glanced at the direction Hermione had come from. “Where have you been?”

 

Hermione mentally grimaced. “Just had to tell Tom a few things. He’ll be down later.”

 

Ginny frowned and they started to walk towards the kitchen. “You seem to be spending an awful lot of time with him. Something going on?”

 

Hermione really wished she could tell her. Ever since she had found out who Tom really was, she hadn’t really known how to talk to her friends. They would see that something was wrong if she said too much. Instead, she had pulled away a little. Not that it was too hard, since she and Ron still weren’t talking to each other. “No, just working with Hogwarts stuff.”

 

“Oh. He is a bit … peculiar, isn’t he?” Ginny said carefully.

 

Hermione became worried. Did Ginny know something? She had spent a lot of time with Tom Riddle’s diary after all. Was she recognising him?

 

“Maybe. In what way?”

 

Ginny shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable. “I don’t know. There’s just something about him … maybe I’m just a bit on edge around people who are that handsome and are named Tom.”

 

Hermione tried to laugh it off, but she had to admit her laugh sounded a bit forced. “He is a bit distant, I’ve noticed. Even though he is friendly, he always keeps a polite distance. Maybe he is a bit shy?”

 

“Maybe,” Ginny said, grimacing. “I just really don’t want any new problem now, after everything.”

 

“Yeah,” Hermione said, feeling a stab of guilt in her heart. None of them knew about the dangers the world was facing. Even if she could though, would she have told them? Somehow, it didn’t seem fair. After all these years of horror, they could finally start to heal. She didn’t want to take that away from them. If she managed to get the work done, there would be no reason for them to panic. It was not as if it were that dangerous. Slytherin had shown her several ways to make it to the bottom of the ocean without any harm. His family had done it for thousands of years, after all. As long as the serpent didn’t wake up, she was not in any danger. And neither were her friends.

 

Well, as long as Riddle didn’t cause any more problems. And she could bet everything she owned that he would. She would have to keep a really close eye on him. Thank Merlin that Slytherin was still there to control him. She didn’t dare to think what Riddle would do if something happened to Slytherin.

 

They reached the kitchen and found Harry there, eating with Neville and, to Hermione’s great delight, Luna. Ginny seemed equally pleased, because she rushed forward to hug their friend.

 

“Luna, how good to see you again! How have you been?” Hermione asked and hugged Luna as well, once Ginny had let go.

 

“Daddy has put up Dream Capturers around my bed to catch all the nightmares. I’m waiting for them to work any day now,” Luna said in her usual calm and relaxed way. Hermione noted that she did look tired, though. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her long dirty blond hair was looking even duller than usual. Regardless of that, she was dressed in a bright yellow robe and wearing a necklace of feathers in different colours. For Luna, it was a surprisingly tasteful necklace.

 

“You don’t feel like trying some Dreamless Sleep Potion?” Hermione asked. “We brewed a new batch just two days ago. I could get you some.”

 

“No, Dreamless Sleep Potions can disturb the Hidrians,” Luna replied. “Dad is trying to capture some, and I wouldn’t want to scare them away.”

 

“Well, if you want to try it when you come back to Hogwarts, just let me know,” Hermione said, not even bothering to ask what on earth a Hidrian was, or why Mr Lovegood would want to capture one.

 

Luna just nodded and turned back to the table. Ginny sat down next to her, and Hermione took a place at the opposite side of the table, next to Harry.

 

“Where is Ron?” Ginny asked and started to serve herself some porridge and pumpkin juice.

 

“McGonagall wanted to talk to all of us about what we wanted to do now that the school is to remain open,” Harry said. “Something about getting honour grades from the Ministry, so we won’t have to take our N.E.W.T’s.”

 

Hermione looked at him in shock. “We can’t take our N.E.W.T’s?” But she still had so much to learn! She had missed so much already!

 

Harry smiled at her. “I’m sure we can, if we want to. But some of us don’t feel like going back to school.”

 

“Oh,” Hermione said, frowning. She had sort of hoped that everything would get back to normal between her, Harry and Ron once school began and they resumed their pre-war everyday routine. But maybe this was for the best. If Harry and Ron weren’t here, she didn’t need to worry about Riddle harming them because of what they had done to his old self. It didn’t matter what Salazar said, Hermione knew Riddle could be patient and sneaky.

 

“Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to stay either,” Neville said. “I mean, the only class I’m really good at is Herbology, and I think I’d rather focus only on that. Gran sent some owls on my behalf, you know, inquiries, and every Herbology Master she owled said they would be thrilled to have me.” His expression was a mixture of pride and the uncomfortable puzzlement of someone who still didn’t realise their true potential.

 

“Of course they would,” Hermione said, encouragingly. “You are really talented at Herbology.”

 

“Not to mention, you are a war hero too,” Ginny said, with a wink.

 

Neville laughed, looking even more uncomfortable. “Yeah, but I don’t want to take advantage of that, you know…”

 

“I think it’s safe to say that you have earned every benefit you can get from here on,” Hermione remarked.

 

“Yes, we all have,” Ginny agreed.

 

A moment of silence fell over the table. Hermione knew they were all trying not to think about what exactly they had done to earn the peace they now had. No doubt they were all failing as miserably as she was.

 

“Good morning.”

 

Hermione held back a groan when Riddle suddenly appeared.

 

“Mind if I squeeze in?”

 

Hermione minded very much, but Neville immediately made room for him and Riddle sat down next to Neville and Luna.

 

“Oh, hello, I don’t think I’ve met you yet,” Riddle said politely to Luna, stretching out a hand for her. “I’m Tom Dolder.”

 

Luna grasped his hand and stared at him with the same mild, unimpressed eyes she always had. “Hello. I’m Luna Lovegood. You don’t go to Hogwarts.”

 

Riddle looked a little surprised by her statement. “No, I’m from Sweden. I just came here to help after the war.”

 

“That’s nice. I like Sweden. My father and I were there a few summers ago, trying to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.”

 

Hermione expected Riddle to look confused and readied herself for scolding him if he started to laugh at Luna. Therefore, she was very surprised when Riddle looked thoughtful.

 

“I tried to find one too, when I was younger,” he said.

 

The whole table stared at him, and only Luna didn’t stare in disbelief.

 

Riddle smiled at them. “Oh, I know many wizards believe that they are a myth. If they have even heard of them, that is. But I like to keep an open mind. I’d hate to miss something fantastic just because it’s improbable.”

 

Luna nodded in agreement. Hermione glanced around the table. Neville and Harry seemed mostly confused, but Ginny’s eyes were narrowed, as if she were trying to figure out if Riddle was ridiculing her friend or not. Hermione wondered the same thing.

 

“But the writings concerning the Crumple-Horned Snorkack are quite vague. In myths, elves rode on them. The smallest kind, that is, Leaf-elves. But those aren’t around now either, so it’s hard to ask them. They died out after the Great War of Magical Beings in Scandinavia. Maybe the Crumple-Horned Snorkack died out with them?”

 

“My father met someone who had seen them,” Luna stated, but she didn’t seem to be annoyed with Riddle at all. Then again, Luna rarely became annoyed.

 

“Then you’ll have to tell me if you find them,” Riddle said with a smile. “Stranger things have happened. I know for a fact that Heliopaths are real, even though most wizards believe they are a myth as well.”

 

“Yes, Minister Fudge had an army of them,” Luna said.

 

Riddle frowned. “I don’t know if I’ve heard about that. But they were the guardians of the rulers of Great Zimbabwe.”

 

“Oh? How do you know that?” Luna asked, once again looking mildly interested in Riddle.

 

“My father studied that civilisation before he passed away,” Riddle answered. “I’d like to visit the ruins when I’m older.”

 

“Maybe my father would be interested in doing a reportage about it,” Luna mused. “I think I’ll Owl him about it.”

 

“I can give you the names of some books on the topic, if you’d like,” Riddle offered.

 

Hermione watched them as Riddle got some parchment and started to scribble down some titles while talking to Luna. What was he playing at? Hadn’t Salazar just told him to stop acting like himself?

 

Okay, so helpful was certainly not something Tom Riddle was, but he was clever. Should he really show off like that? Or was he already trying to make a name for himself as a partying womaniser?

 

Hermione felt her belly tighten in fear. She did not want Luna to fall for Riddle. Luna would be left heartbroken!

  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the delay in updates. Just came back home from a week long stay at the hospital. Erupted cyst - don't try that if you can help it. The pain is excruciating. But now I'm back home, feeling somewhat better, so yay! Nevertheless, thought it was best to post this at once, before something else happens. You can never trust this body of mine.
> 
> As always, thank you, Ozzy for your wonderful services as my beta *blow kisses*
> 
> Anyway, I really like this chapter, so I hope you like it too!

**Chapter 6**

 

It had been a nice little side mission. Useful, too. Salazar had thought he was too busy seducing that he hadn’t noticed what Tom was really researching, the last few nights at the library. Apparently, his ancestor had never heard about multitasking. Finally, he knew how to get out from underneath Salazar’s thumb.

 

“I thought there would be sparkles.”

 

Tom smiled and looked up at the naked young woman whose lap he was lying in. “Sparkles?”

 

Luna nodded, looking thoughtful. “Yes. Like when unicorns mate, there are showers of sparkles around them. I thought it would be like that.”

 

“When did you see unicorns mate?”

 

Luna shrugged. “I walk in the Forbidden Forest sometimes. Not where it’s dangerous, of course. Hagrid told me where you shouldn’t walk.”

 

Tom chuckled. She was a most amusing girl, Luna. Not only had she been useful for tricking Salazar, but he could not wait until Granger heard about this. She would be exquisitely livid.

 

“Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough,” he mused. “I know some other tricks; maybe one of those will make you see sparkles.”

 

Luna looked down at him. “Oh?”

 

Tom’s smiled and sat up, pulling her down into a lying position again. He kissed her, and she answered, more courageous this time around. Or rather, more experienced. She was a fast learner. Another thing that pleased him. And Lord Voldemort always rewarded those who pleased him.

 

xxx

 

Hermione took a deep breath before she started on the incantation again, for the seventh time that evening. Slytherin was circling her like a hawk, ready to correct her if she as much as moved the wrong muscle. She knew the incantation was important and perfecting it made sense, but this was a bit ridiculous. What difference would it possibly make if she were resting her weight on her right leg instead of her left?

 

To her great surprise, this time, she actually managed to finish the whole spell without him interrupting her. Once she had lowered her wand hand, she looked at him.

 

“Was that good?”

 

He nodded once. “I want to see you do that just as perfectly two more times before we call it a night. But I will take a look at Tom first to make sure he is still busy.”

 

Before she had time to say anything, he disappeared.

 

Hermione growled. She didn’t know what she found the most aggravating, that Slytherin wanted her to practice more, or that Slytherin wouldn’t say what Riddle was “busy” with. In every other session, Slytherin would pop out every ten minutes or so and check on Riddle. Today, however, Slytherin had been with her for over an hour. In a way, it was good, because they had made a lot of progress. At the same time, what on earth was Riddle up to?

 

For the past few nights, after they would finish their work rebuilding Hogwarts, Riddle would go to the library with Luna. She had sat with them one evening, and had been relieved to see that Luna didn’t seem to be physically attracted to the handsome exchange student. They had just been doing research on an article for Luna’s father. Riddle hadn’t seemed that flirtatious either, and Hermione had thought that it was safe enough to leave for her lessons with Slytherin.

 

Not even a minute had passed when Slytherin returned again.

 

“I think he will be busy for the rest of the night,” Slytherin said, looking pleased.

 

Hermione frowned, suspicious. “What is he doing, exactly?”

 

“Nothing of importance,” Slytherin said dismissively. “You should focus on the incantation. Do it again.”

 

Hermione sighed, pushing her worry back. This was more important after all. The sooner she got the Serpent of Midgard under control, the sooner Slytherin could get rid of Riddle.

 

It was well past midnight when Slytherin was finally satisfied with her wand work.

 

“We will be able to turn to the next lesson tomorrow.”

 

“Which is?” Hermione asked, curious.

 

“Controlling serpents. Unlike Tom, you have no experience with this. We will have to start from scratch, control simpler serpents first, then move our way up, to more difficult species. It’s a shame the Basilisk is dead; we will have to find another one.”

 

Hermione felt a cold shiver go through her. “Why?”

 

“Knowing the incantation is the mere minimum knowledge. For you to actually be able to pass on my legacy, you’ll need to know how to control it. If future generations ever need to force Jörmungandr back down to the bottom of the ocean, they need to be experts at Parseltongue. Not only that, but there are many more things about your new heritage that you need to know,” Slytherin explained. “I’ll give you more material to read, but much of it is too unsafe to put down in books. In the wrong hands, the things we know could become dangerous.”

 

Hermione nodded. He didn’t have to tell her who he was thinking about. “Well, goodnight, then.”

 

“Good night, Hermione.” He disappeared in the same soundless way he always did.

 

She made her way back to Gryffindor tower, and to her great surprise, she found Ginny, still awake.

 

“Have you seen Luna tonight?” Ginny asked when she saw her.

 

Hermione frowned. “No, I’ve been alone, working on a project all night. Why?”

 

“Well, I wanted to ask her about a thing so I went to the library, but she wasn’t there. Neither was Dolder.” Ginny was looking a bit worried, and Hermione could feel her own worry increasing.

He couldn’t have… Could he?

 

Of course he could. Slytherin had said he was “busy”, and he didn’t mean with reading. Slytherin would have wanted to keep a really close eye on Riddle if he was reading anything. Same if he were practicing magic. Or were out for a walk.

 

Come to think of it, Hermione couldn’t think of any other reason for Slytherin to leave Riddle alone, other than if he was having sex.

 

With Luna.

 

She was going to have to kill him.

 

xxx

 

Tom was breathing heavily as he collapsed next to Luna after his third round of intercourse. He was indeed seventeen years old again. Even he was surprised at his stamina.

 

“Did you see any sparkles now?” Tom asked after taking a moment to recapture his breath.

 

Luna’s eyes were closed, but she was smiling. “Yes. On the insides of my eyelids.”

 

“Excellent.” Tom stretched and turned onto his back. His eyes fell on the clock hanging on the wall, on the side opposite to the bed. It was already past midnight. Should he offer her a shower before throwing her out?

 

Looking at her again, he wondered if she was about to fall asleep right now. He poked her.

 

“Do you want to take a shower?” he asked.

 

She opened her eyes. They had already regained their usual calm, disinterested expression. He had made her glow before.

 

“No, magic will do.” She sat up slowly.

 

Since the bed was situated next to the wall, and he was currently lying between her and the rest of the room, he sat up as well. She slid past him and picked up her wand, which had fallen down on the floor. After casting a cleaning spell over herself, she placed the wand behind her right ear and started to collect her clothes.

 

Tom leaned back in bed and watched her pale, naked behind disappear behind plain blue knickers.

 

“Will we be doing this often now?” she asked, her tone making it sound as if she had just politely asked about his health.

 

“As much as I’d like to, I doubt I’ll be around long enough for that,” Tom replied, equally politely. “But you never know when our roads will cross again.”

 

“You won’t be my boyfriend, then,” she concluded, pulling on her pants.

 

“No, this is strictly for fun.” That was one of the things he liked about Luna. She caught on easily. He didn’t doubt that she could fancy herself in love with him if he let her, but she didn’t seem bothered with just having fun either.

 

“I think I can understand the unicorns better now,” Luna said, finally finishing dressing. “I wonder if I’ll be able to talk to them about this.”

 

He smiled. “If anyone will be able to do it, you will.”

 

She nodded. “I’ll see you later.”

 

Tom nodded and she left without another word. He sank back against the pillows and let out a pleased sigh. How he enjoyed people like Luna. He didn’t even have to spend too much time manipulating her, she could sense what he wanted and was pleased to do it. True, he didn’t ask any more from her than she would have been willing to do for anyone, but it was still nice to spend time with someone who wanted to please him. Merlin knows Salazar and Hermione didn’t know how to please him.

 

His eyes were closed, but he could still feel when Salazar entered the room to check on him. Tom had a very acute sense for magic around him. It had taken him a couple of days to tune into Salazar special, very faint magic, which was hard to detect but it was there. Therefore, Tom could also feel when the magic disappeared.

 

Once his ancestor was gone, Tom rolled out of bed again and pulled out the blend he had prepared earlier. It was time to add the final ingredient. Just as he had suspected, his ancestor hadn’t bothered to check Tom’s room while he was busy with Luna. People were often so predictable.

 

With a simple spell, he was dressed again, ready to get out from under his ancestor’s thumb once and for all.

 

He used a knife to draw blood from his hand and let it drop into the blend. “ _Aname Vindictie Vracsupe Infente_ ,” he whispered. The blend began to shimmer with a blue light, showing him that he had done it correctly.

 

Quickly, he took the thick paste-like blend into his hand and began painting the symbol on the wall. It was most commonly used to banish ghosts, but Tom had modified the blend to work for someone like Salazar as well. That is, a ghost with magic. You could use it on wizards too, after all, but it required more power. It was all tied to blood and magic, and Tom was quite positive his own blood would work. The Banishing Ritual wouldn’t work forever on Salazar, but he didn’t need it to work for long. Just long enough to get well away from Hogwarts.

 

Just as he was about to add the final spell to the symbol, his front door slammed open. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Granger march in, looking angry.

 

“What in bloody—” She stopped and gasped when she saw the symbol. “No! Slytherin!”

 

It seemed like she had recognised the symbol. But it was too late. Tom uttered the final spell at the same moment that Salazar entered the room. The symbol started to glow bright red.

 

“No!” Salazar’s moan became weaker as he started to fade away from the room. After just a few seconds, he was completely gone.

 

Tom smiled and turned to Granger who had gone paler than death.

 

“Riddle,” she whispered. “What did you do?”

 

“I think you know,” Tom said and used another spell to clean the blend from his hand. “Slytherin is gone and I don’t feel the need to stay here any longer. It’s not like I need the education after all.”

 

He flicked his wand and a bag he had prepared appeared on his bed. He picked it up.

 

“You should be happy, Granger. You won’t have to give McGonagall that recommendation after all.” He started to walk towards her and the exit. However, when he made to pass her, she grabbed his arm.

 

He looked at her, amused. “Really, Granger, you think you can force me to stay?”

 

“I can’t let you leave,” she said, clearly trying to sound brave.

 

“When you put it that way…” Tom trailed off and flicked his wand again, sending her flying to the opposite end of the room.

 

She fell onto the floor, letting out a grunt.

 

“I don’t want to kill you, Granger,” Tom said. “I don’t really feel like taking care of all this Serpent of the World business or raising kiddies to do so. I have more important things to do. So, why don’t you stay here and continue to practice all the things Salazar told you to, and I’ll focus on what really matters.”

 

Granger got back to her feet. “So you don’t think the end of the world matters?”

 

“I do, but I have the highest confidence in your abilities to stop it,” Tom answered and turned around, ready to finally get out of this place.

 

“Wait! I can’t do it on my own!” The panic in her voice made him turn around with a frown.

 

“You can’t do what?”

 

Her expression was pained. “Slytherin said I needed to learn how to control a snake and even a Basilisk before I can hope to control the Midgard Serpent. And he said I couldn’t learn it on my own. I need someone to teach me.”

 

Tom looked at her in disbelief. “Snakes are simple minded creatures and you are one of the bossiest witches I’ve ever encountered. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

 

“And what if I can’t?” she asked.

 

“What do you want me to do about it?”

 

“You can teach me.”

 

Tom regarded her closely. She looked sincere, but he was sure that wasn’t all there was to it. No doubt she wanted to keep an eye on him as well. But what if she was telling the truth and she couldn’t control the Midgard Serpent?

 

He had already come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t benefit from the world as they knew it ending. Too many useful things would be lost; knowledge, wealth, power. No, he would rather keep the Midgard Serpent where it was for now, as a secret weapon. However, then he would need to learn to control it. Salazar had only told Granger about it, but Granger was much easier to crack than Salazar.

 

In his hurry to get away from his ancestor, Tom hadn’t really considered that Granger had become more and more useful for him every day. He did want to know what Salazar had told her. If he got her away from here as well, he could find that out and then send her off to put the Serpent back to sleep. He also still needed Granger to secure their bloodline, and he didn’t know for how long his ritual would keep Salazar away. On ghosts, it worked for decades. In that case, it wasn’t certain if Granger would remember her job of giving birth to new Slytherin babies.

 

He sighed. “You have two hours to pack a bag and meet me outside of the entrance to Hogwarts.”

 

“But don’t you want to stay here and finish your last year?” Granger asked, looking hopeful.

 

Tom looked down at her, arching an eyebrow, but otherwise remaining silent.

 

Hermione sighed. “We had better not end up camping.”

  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, sorry for taking so long with posting. My health is very poor, but thankfully, I've managed to stay away from the hospital. I do hope I'll get better soon, but if I suddenly disappear for a while, it's probably because I'm too sick to update and stuff like that. But the story is finished otherwise, it just has to be betaed, so don't worry about it becoming abandoned!
> 
> As always, thank you Ozzy for betaing! You are the best! And thanks to everyone who have read, reviewed, faved, kudosed and subscribed to this story! It really warms my heart!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 7**

 

Hermione felt her heart beat fast in fear as she ran back to the tower to get her things. She was going to leave Hogwarts with Voldemort for crying out loud! She wasn’t sure exactly what it was that had got him to take her along, but she didn’t for a second believe that it was just to help her. He may not want to deal with the Serpent of Midgard, but he sure as hell wouldn’t help her unless he had something to gain from it.

 

What could he want? Leverage on Harry? Knowledge of Slytherin’s lessons? Someone to torture when he got bored?

 

Or did he just want to keep the only one that knew who he really was in sight?

 

Well, it was possible that he wanted all of the above. And she had just agreed to come along with him. However, it wasn’t like she could let him out of her sight. She knew what Tom Riddle was capable of. It didn’t matter that he was seventeen again; he was still a mass murderer. And she was the only one who knew he existed.

 

Not that she had any idea how to stop him from doing exactly what he wanted. Slytherin hadn’t told her how he kept Riddle under control, only that it had to do with Slytherin creating him.

 

There were still Slytherin’s books though.

 

Hermione paused at the staircase and glanced at her watch. She could make it down to the Chamber and get them. But that meant taking the risk of Riddle finding out that they existed. He would probably search through her things at the first opportunity.

 

However, without Slytherin’s books, she would never even have a chance of finding out how Slytherin controlled him. It would have to be worth it.

 

She ran to the Gryffindor tower, through the common room and up to the dorm she shared with Ginny.

 

“What happened?” Ginny asked, when she burst into the room.

 

“I have to go,” Hermione said and waved her wand over her belongings, summoning all of them into her beaded bag. There was no time to sort through them. Since the bag could contain an infinite amount of belongings, it was better if she brought too much than too little.

 

“Why? What happened?” Ginny asked again, sitting up in her bed and putting her book down.

 

“I don’t have time to explain,” Hermione said and summoned her cloak. “I have something I need to do and I don’t know how long it will take. I’ll try to send an Owl.”

 

She left again, ignoring her friend’s questions. When she came back, she would have to think up a really good explanation. Right now, she had to get those books and put them somewhere Riddle would never think to look.

 

On her way down to the Chamber, she withdrew a sock from her beaded bag. As she walked, she put an Undetectable Extension Charm on the sock, same as she had on the beaded bag, so it would be able to contain more than it should. She also put a Notice-Me-Not spell on it, so no one would think to take a closer look at it.

 

Once the sock was done, she got out another sock and did the same to that one. She did it on seven different socks, until she finally stopped. That should be enough. If Riddle found one of them and asked, she would say that her left foot was one size bigger than the other one, and the socks were never comfortable, so she had had to enlarge them. But she hadn’t want anyone to notice it, because that would have been embarrassing.

 

Holding the last sock in her hand, she entered the Chambers of Secrets and hurried to Slytherin’s room. The fake wall gave way as soon as she touched it (had Slytherin planned for her to go down there to the books?) and she stepped through.

 

Another summoning spell, and everything in the room flew into the bright blue sock. She put it back into the beaded bag and hurried out again.

 

She had a good twenty minutes to spare when she finally exited Hogwarts’ grounds. She looked around, and just then, Riddle stepped out of the shadows.

 

Hermione blinked in surprise when she saw him. All summer, she had never thought about the way Riddle dressed. It had all been very common, bland clothing, even if everything looked good on him. Now, however, he was wearing a robe that seemed to float around him. The fabric was so black it was almost shining, and the silver details and buttons made it look expensive. However, that was not all. His whole expression had altered. He looked … older.

 

Then it struck her, he didn’t have to hide anymore. The thought made her freeze in fear. She hadn’t thought this through. She had taken Slytherin’s protection for granted, and despite Riddle’s threats, she hadn’t considered what he would do now that he was rid of the only thing that had been keeping him back.

 

“Good, you are here.” Even Riddle’s voice was different. It was much colder than it had been before. He really wasn’t trying to play nice anymore.

 

“Yes,” Hermione replied, deciding to take the safest route and not anger him. At least not now.

 

“We are going to Apparate,” he said and stepped closer to her. “Once we reach our destination, you will not talk. You will not run, you will not try to fight and you will not cry.”

 

Hermione frowned. “What are you going to do?”

 

“I own several properties all over the world. However, I imagine I will have to remind the current safe-keeper of that fact.” He held out his arm.

 

Somewhere at the back of her mind, Hermione heard a warning bell ringing. “But how do you know they are still yours? If you acquired them before you were 17—”

 

He interrupted her with a cold laugh. “Ah yes, Salazar had you convinced that I only remember my life up until the point where I made the first horcrux. Well, there are many things our honoured ancestor didn’t know about.”

 

She was seeing that more and more.

 

Riddle, apparently getting tired of waiting for her, grabbed her arm.

 

“On three. One, two—”

 

Hermione felt the nauseating experience of being pushed through a narrow object. The next moment, they were standing outside a surprisingly cosy-looking cottage in the middle of a forest. Wherever they were, it was still the middle of the night, and the only source of light came from candles in the cottage’s windows.

 

Riddle walked up to the white painted door and knocked hard, thrice. When no one came to open it, he knocked again, harder.

 

The door opened a little, and Hermione could see an old dark man peek out. “It’s the middle of the night, go away.”

 

“Rudolph,” Riddle said. “Time to pack up and leave.”

 

“What for? Who are you?” Rudolph asked, clearly annoyed.

 

Riddle moved his hand so fast Hermione hardly saw it. Before she knew it, Rudolph had been thrown back from the doorway, screaming in agony.

 

“What are you doing?” Hermione screamed and ran up to Riddle, grabbing his wand hand. “You can’t just torture—”

 

Riddle silenced her with such an ice-piercing look, Hermione actually took a step back. Right, no talking.

 

Riddle stepped through the doorway and Hermione hurried after. She just had time to see a flash of green light hit the old man. She stared at him in horror.

 

“ _Evanesco_ ,” Riddle said, making the body disappear. “I thought my orders were perfectly clear, Granger.”

 

Hermione still stared at the spot where Rudolph had lain. “You just—”

 

“Killed him? Yes, he was an unnecessary complication. It suited me better to have him dead.”

 

She slowly turned to look at him. “What?”

 

Riddle removed his outer robe and threw it over a deep brown armchair. A small table stood next to it, with a blue tea cup, still half-full. A book was lying next to it. Rudolph must have been having a lovely, relaxed evening before they had shown up. It was a romance novel, she noticed. Strange that a grown wizard would read a romance novel.

 

Riddle sat down in the armchair and leaned back, his right hand holding his wand effortlessly against the armrest. “You do not seem to comprehend what has happened, Granger. I’m free. You are the only one who knows that I’m alive, and I intend to keep it that way. You are only alive because I need you to be. Salazar planned for you to learn all his secrets so you could carry on his legacy and responsibilities to the next generation. That suits me, and thus, that is what you will do.”

 

Hermione just stared at him. Her usually very fast brain was still trying to take in everything that was happening. She had lived through a war. She had experienced things no one should ever have to go through. And yet, she couldn’t quite grasp this new situation she found herself in.

 

“The rules will be quite simple, dear sister,” Riddle continued. “You won’t get in my way. If you do, I will punish you. I will teach you how to control snakes, and once you can do that, you’ll go down to the Serpent of Midgard and put him at ease again. After that, we will discuss your future. As long as you don’t jeopardise my work, you can do pretty much anything you want, but I will keep an eye on you. We are siblings, after all.”

 

His features gave him the appearance of one so young; younger than her even. But the dark eyes belonged to someone much older. His whole demeanour screamed of experience and power. It struck her how much he had had them fooled. He remembered _everything_. He may look 17, but his mind wasn’t.

 

“Now, I will of course have a say in your choice of husband. His blood will mix with mine, and we want the next generation to become as powerful as possible.”

 

That make Hermione snap out of her shock and finally catch up to the moment. “No.”

 

Riddle tilted his head forward, just the slightest, and arched an eyebrow in question. “No?”

 

“No. You can’t possibly think I’ll agree to any of that! Once I’ve saved the world from the madness of your ancestor, that will be it. We will each go our separate ways and not meet again until another battle, in which we will fight on opposite sides. If you want a next generation, then you go and get pregnant.”

 

Riddle looked at her for a few seconds, unimpressed. Then he flicked his wand, in the smallest of motions. Hermione fell down, screaming. It felt like her blood was on fire! She could feel it rushing around in her veins, burning her up from the inside.

 

Just as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Hermione stayed on the ground, panting through her mouth. Her nose was bleeding. She lifted a shaky hand and was about to press the hem of her shirt against her nose, when a towel appeared before her.

 

Riddle pressed it against her nose. “Lean forward, it will pass soon.”

 

Hermione tried to push him away, but her arms were weak from the pain of the curse.

 

“Blood magic is very powerful when used against your own blood,” Riddle said happily. “I haven’t had a chance to try it since I was young, and I have learned a lot of new things since then. So believe me when I say I have ways of punishing you. Because of our bond, dear sister, I don’t even have to be physically near you to hurt you. All I need is my own blood, and fortunately, I have it with me all the time.”

 

He dragged her up and made her sit down on the brown sofa.

 

“ _Episkey_ ,” Riddle said, pointing his wand at her nose, before removing the towel. “Have I made myself clear?”

 

Hermione nodded. Perfectly clear. She wouldn’t go against him again, until she had read up on blood magic. If he was so careless with information, that must only mean he knew of a way to block her if she tried to use the same thing against him. She would have to find that before doing anything else. That was one unpleasant curse.

 

“Good. Rest here for a bit. I’ll go and inspect the house. I do believe there are two bedrooms, but I doubt the beds are made in both.”

 

He patted her head and left the sofa. Hermione took a deep breath through her now-healed nose. This was going to be so much worse than she had imagined.

 

xxx

 

Tom stood in the doorway and watched Granger sleep. The curse had indeed taken its toll on her; he had found her asleep on the sofa. She hadn’t even stirred when he had floated her to her bedroom and put her into bed. Then again, it was almost four in the morning. It had been a long night. Thankfully, they could both sleep in tomorrow.

 

His sister. He had never wanted siblings, but he now found himself curious about what it would be like. It wouldn’t be long until he had disciplined her; she may prove useful. There were, of course, dangers of having someone else walk around with his blood in them, but no one needed to know about that. Granger wouldn’t tell, he was quite sure of it.

 

The only question was what he would use her for. There were countless ways, but he hadn’t decided on the best one yet. In fact, he hadn’t decided anything for sure about his future. Lord Voldemort was dead, no one would expect him to cause any problem anymore. Did Tom want people to continue to believe he was dead or not?

 

It would be easy to gather followers by proving that not even Harry Potter could kill Lord Voldemort. They would fear and awe him. But what would he use them for? If he came back as Lord Voldemort, people would expect him to continue to conquer the world and wipe out the Muggles. Did he really want to do that right now?

 

He wasn’t immortal anymore. He still wasn’t sure what Salazar had done to bring him back, or how that affected him. As memories came back, would his age come too? The first thing he needed was answers. Granger would be useful with that. He would have to get the information out of her.

 

Should he use force or not? He snorted softly to himself. Like she would tell him voluntarily. No, he could force the answers out of her. Make her talk, then teach her what she needed to know.

 

Yes, that would be a good first step. The more information he got, the better plans he could make for the future.

 

He left the doorway and went to his own room. He crawled under the covers and put the light out with his wand. The cottage was silent around him. He wondered what he would dream about that night. He had lied to Granger when he had said he remembered everything. New memories were still appearing every time he slept. He had enough memories to put together what had happened the last fifty years, but he still wasn’t sure what he was missing. The memories themselves didn’t feel like normal memories. It felt like he was watching someone else’s life. It was a strange feeling. He thought about his memories as if they were a book he recalled reading, but he couldn’t connect with them the same way he could to his own recent memories. It was quite frustrating. Yet, they kept coming...

_“Master?”_

_He chuckled and closed the book he had been reading to look up at the young woman entering the library. “Master? I don’t recall anyone calling me ‘master’ before.”_

_“But you are,” she said, hurrying forward to sit down by his feet. Her face shone with devotion. “My Lord and Master.”_

_Affectionately, she stroked her cheek against his knee._

_“You flatter me, Miss Black,” he said, even though he was pleased with her submission._

_“Please, call me Bella, my Lord.”_

_“Bella,” he said and stroked her black hair. She closed her eyes and shuddered with pleasure. He was mildly surprised that she would show her devotion to him this openly. They had met just the other week, at her sister’s engagement party. Ever since then, he had hardly been able to get rid of her. At first, he had been annoyed. He had had enough girls going after him at Hogwarts, hoping for some romance._

_But after the incident last night, he had begun to see her in a new light._

_“How old are you, Bella?” he asked._

_“I just turned seventeen, my Lord,” she offered. “I’ll be leaving Hogwarts next year.”_

 

_He looked at her, amused. “Are you lying to me because you know I only take followers who are of-age, or because you think I won’t bed a minor?”_

_She looked up at him, a small blush creeping up her cheeks. “I’ll turn seventeen next month. I am leaving Hogwarts next year.”_

 

_He held out his hand and when she took it, he pulled her up and tugged her into his lap. She squirmed in delight._

_“I know about your followers. I want to be one of them. All my life, I have been looking for someone to teach me, guide me. When I first saw you, I knew you could teach me more,” Bella whispered eagerly, leaning closer to him._

_He stroked her face, his hand coming to rest under her chin. “I was wondering if the performance last night was for my benefit. How long have you been studying the Dark Arts?”_

_“All my life,” she responded eagerly. “But I know I’m not remotely close to your level. I can see it around you. Smell it.”_

_She placed a hand against his chest, and her eyes turned misty, her pupils dilating in attraction. “Feel it.”_

_He took her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. “I can feel it in you too, my dear. And I will be honoured to take you as one of my followers … after you graduate.”_

_He could see the disappointment in her eyes._

_“However, that doesn’t mean I can’t give you a private lesson. If you’d like,” he said, and smiled as she shone with delight._

 

Tom woke up with an unpleasant hard-on. Sweet Merlin, how he missed having followers. Their devotion was intoxicating. Having their lives in his hand… especially Bella. Oh, he had had many wet dreams about Bella. Such a shame he would never have control over her again. But she had failed him by dying.

 

Hm. Even if he wasn’t sure he wanted to return as Lord Voldemort, there was nothing standing in his way of getting new followers. People always flocked around power and ambition. He could collect some worthy individuals. He didn’t know what he needed them for yet, but it was always good to have followers at hand to do the things you didn’t feel like doing.

 

He got out of bed and headed towards the shower to take care of himself. Perhaps he should have asked Luna to come with him? She had been excellent company and was much more likely to succumb to him, long before Granger did. Then again, it was not as if his sexual urges were a problem for him. If he didn’t want them, he ignored them. They were just pleasant to indulge from time to time.

 

As he stepped into the shower, he shook his head. He really was a teenage boy again; it had been years since he had thought about sex this much. Or wanked off in the shower. Then again, all the transformations he had undergone the last time had reduced his sexual appetite to almost zero. Much to Bella’s disappointment. If she could see him now, she’d jump with happiness. Right into his bed.

 

Oh, Salazar save him, he had even got a teenager’s humour.

 

His deed done, he dried off with a spell and wrapped a housecoat around himself as he walked into the small kitchenette. Rudolph had stocked it well and he easily found tea and toast. As the water started to boil, Granger came out of her room as well, still dressed in the clothes she had been wearing last night. She was watching him with caution.

 

“Don’t worry, Granger, I won’t torture you on an empty stomach,” Tom greeted her, chipper.

 

She glared at him, but went up and took down a cup for herself.

 

“I don’t want to do this if you are going to constantly torture me,” she growled.

 

“Don’t disobey my orders and I won’t have to,” Tom replied. “Toast?”

 

She nodded, but didn’t respond. Clearly, she could see that it was fruitless. Or, knowing her, she was waiting to bring it up when a better opportunity arose and she actually had something to bargain with.

 

“I’m going to find you a snake to practice on today,” Tom said as they sat down to eat. “Once you have it, you’ll get used to the way you speak with snakes. You have the language in your blood, but you need to understand the culture of the snakes. I can’t teach you that, you have to figure it out for yourself.”

 

“By asking the snake?” she asked, sounding doubtful.

 

“For example. If you are nice, the snake may allow you to come and watch it in its natural habitat.”

 

He finished his tea and went to the door of the cottage. Taking a deep breath, he called out, commanding all snakes closeby to come to him. It only took a few seconds. No snake could withstand the order of a true Parselmouth.

 

Inspecting the gathered crowd, he chose a brown and black Smooth Snake, 26 inches long. It was probably best to start with something that wasn’t poisonous.

 

“ _Hello, what’s your name_?” Tom asked and picked the snake up, after sending the others away.

 

“ _Mischich_ ,” the snake replied. “ _Pleased to meet you, Tongued One_.”

 

“ _Likewise, Mischich_ ,” Tom said and closed the door again. “ _This is my sister, Hermione. She wishes to play with you, oblige her_.”

 

“ _Yes, Tongued One_.”

 

He handed the snake to Granger, who looked quite uncomfortable touching it. Silly Mudblood.

 

“I’ll be back later. You can go out with Mischich if you want, but don’t go far. I will find you if you do,” Tom said, making sure the threat went across.

 

“It’s not like I have anywhere else to be,” Granger muttered, inspecting the snake even though her mouth was pressed together in a repulsed grimace.

 

Tom nodded and Apparated away. He would question her later, tonight. Today, he would find out if there were any worthy followers at hand.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy black Friday all my american readers. It seems this custom have come to Sweden as well... don't know why. There seem to be sales all the time? Anyway, here is a new chapter, you get it for 100 % off! WOHO! (terms and conditions may be applied, review to find out more).
> 
> Thank you, Ozzy, for helping me beta this chapter! And many thanks to all of you who have read, reviewed, kudosed and subscribed!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 8**

 

“So,” Hermione said, placing the snake on the floor and sitting down beside it. “You are a snake.”

 

The snake just kept staring at her, unblinkingly. Hermione sighed. Tom had made it look so easy. Was she even talking in Parseltongue? She took a deep breath and tried again.

 

“ _Hi_ ,” she said, and this time, she could feel a difference. Her tongue felt like it was vibrating, instead of how it usually felt like when she spoke.

 

“ _Hello_ ,” the snake responded.

 

“ _So, you are Mischich_ ,” Hermione tried, and could once again feel the difference in her mouth as she spoke. She wondered how that could happen. How could _blood_ make you learn another language?

 

“ _Yes, that is what I’m called_ ,” the snake responded, and Hermione got the impression that the snake thought she was slow or something.

 

“ _I’m Hermione Granger_ ,” Hermione said. “ _I’d like to ask you some questions about being a snake_.”

 

“ _Why_?” the snake asked.

 

“ _Well, I’m curious_ ,” Hermione stated. “ _What have you eaten today_?”

 

Her knowledge about snakes was limited. She would have felt much better if she had got the chance to read up on them first. However, Slytherin hadn’t said that this was necessary, and now she didn’t have access to any books on the subject. Thus, she would have to try and ask questions to learn.

 

Getting to know the snake was slow and boring, though. Hermione tried to think up of as many questions as possible, but the snake didn’t offer much that she could continue on. All in all, being a snake seemed quite dull, and by noon, Hermione gave up for the day. She needed to research this!

 

Hoping that Tom wouldn’t come back anytime soon, Hermione locked the door to her room and picked up the books from Slytherin’s chamber. After all, she didn’t know when Tom would leave her alone again, and she needed to try to read as much as possible. It was the only way she would ever be out from under Tom’s thumb. There had to be something about blood magic in those books, since it was blood magic that bound them together.

 

All she needed was time.

xxx

 

“Thank you, Emily,” Tom said with his most charming smile, as the waitress served him his ordered lunch. It would be so wonderful to have something else to drink but pumpkin juice for lunch. Hogwarts was surprisingly boring when it came to a choice of drinks, and he had always disliked the brewage.

 

“You are welcome, call if you need anything else,” the waitress said, blushing deeply. She was a young witch, probably a recent graduate from France, if he didn’t mistake her accent. He wondered for a moment how she had ended up in a place like this, but then decided that she wasn’t worth his curiosity. That she didn’t use magic to carry the trays with food told him that she was either very unskilled or very weak in her magic. Not useful to him at all.

 

Instead, he let her leave his table and his mind, and focused on the rest of the pub he had entered. Ireland had some of the best pubs in the world, but this was not one of them. No, he had chosen this one for its shabby reputation. Looking around the room, he decided that it was a well-earned reputation.

 

One of his many talents had always been to sense magic around him. Not only that, but he could sense the nature of the magic. The Dark Arts had a very distinct colour, or flavour, depending on how you chose to describe them. Tom instinctively knew when someone was practising the Dark Arts, or recently had been. It left a stain which could last for days, or weeks, depending on how serious the magic had been. Many of his Death Eaters had used the Dark Arts so often that they would constantly reek of them as they walked around. He had liked that about them.

 

In this pub, at least three visitors had recently been practicing, and another two looked as if they were only waiting for the right opportunity. However, that said nothing about their usefulness to him. Any thug could practice the Dark Arts if they put their mind to it. This time, Tom was only interested in the best.

 

He was halfway through his lunch when another man entered the room. It wasn’t just the smell of the Dark Arts that made Tom look at him, but the man, almost comically, fit the stereotypical description of a Dark Wizard. His head was shaved, and a scar ran over his left eyebrow and down onto his cheek. Someone must have tried to take his eye out and missed. He was a big man, with broad shoulders, covered with a long black robe. His boots were big and black, covered with mud.

 

Tom hid a smile as he drank from his cup of beer (real beer, not that butterbeer crap). However, just as he did, the man turned and looked at him. His brown eyes narrowed as he saw Tom’s smile and he stalked over to him.

 

“Aren’t you a bit too young to be drinking?” the man asked, his voice just as dark as the rest of him.

 

Tom let his eyes sweep over the man again and noted a tattoo on the back of his right hand. “Aren’t _you_ a bit too young to be wearing a tattoo from the Order of Katla?” he replied coolly.

The man fisted his hand, making the dragon wing-shaped tattoo stand out even more. “We felt like it was time for a revival of the Order.”

 

“We?” Tom questioned.

 

He hid another smile when two men at the bar rose at once, their wands in hand. Really, these men were all intimidation and no discipline. But how powerful were they?

 

“We,” the man said triumphantly, withdrawing his own wand. “I don’t think I like your tone, junior.”

 

Tom finished his beer, not taking his eyes off the three men for a moment. He put the cup down again and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Is that so?”

 

He could read their intention before they had even finished their thoughts. Thus, he had a shield up several seconds before the table in front of him blasted into a thousand pieces. Good thing he hadn’t paid for the food yet.

 

The other people in the pub seemed to be used to fights such as this one, because no one tried to step in, they all fled. Even Emily moved through a backdoor, leaving the four of them alone.

 

Rising as well, he flicked his wand at the man to the far left, nailing him to the ceiling with a spell. The other two started to cast curses at him, but he deflected them. Not easily, he was pleased to note. The man with the scar applied the most strength, but Tom doubted he was putting all he had behind the curses. They weren’t expecting a ‘boy’ like him to put up much resistance. In fact, Tom could see the surprise in their eyes when they noticed that their partner had already been neutralised.

 

The man to the right made the mistake of looking at his comrade, his mouth agape in shock, and Tom took the opportunity to stun him. He fell down before he had even realised what had happened, leaving Tom alone with the scarred man.

 

“You know how to duel, boy,” the man noted, a hint of respect in his eyes. Good.

 

“And you three clearly don’t,” Tom remarked.

 

As he had expected, it made the man angry enough to lash out, and attack again. Tom easily sidestepped it and returned a curse of his own, which felt like the bones in the man’s legs were breaking. He fell down, screaming.

 

Tom tried to summon his wand, but despite the pain, the man slashed with it again, almost hitting Tom in the chest. He blocked it just in time.

 

“Or maybe you do have some practice,” Tom allowed, generously. “But you lack discipline. Is it because your group has no purpose? The Order of Katla were warriors and dragon tamers, but you just seem like you are looking for a fight. Have you ever seen a real dragon?”

 

“Who the fuck are you to be talking to me like that?” the man roared. “I’m Hans fucking Lejon.”

 

Tom cast three spells in rapid progression. Hans blocked the first curse, was hit in the chest with the second, and had his wand taken from him by the third.

 

“And I’m the Master of the Dark Arts, so you will do best to watch your tone with me,” Tom replied coldly. “I may be young, but I can make you suffer in ways you have never even fantasised about before.”

 

To underline his threat, he cast another spell at the man. Hans bent over in pain and threw up blood. Tom ended the curse.

 

He pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Hans. “I have never heard of you before, so I doubt you are a man of any importance. With my help, you could be. All I need is a promise of your obedience.”

 

Hans’ eyes were furious. “Fuck you, I don’t take orders from children!”

 

Tom smiled. Oh, how he had hoped for that response.

 

xxx

 

When Hermione heard the outer door slam shut, she immediately hid the book from Slytherin and picked up one of her own books. She had just opened it and sat down in the armchair at the corner of her room, when she heard Riddle reach her door. It only took him a second to unlock the door.

 

He regarded the door as it opened. “You wanted a moment’s notice. What for?”

 

“Because I did,” Hermione answered coldly.

 

He stepped into the room and Hermione glanced up at him, about to tell him to leave her alone, but paused. His green robe had splatters of something dark on it, and she was quite certain it was blood.

 

“Where have you been?” she asked.

 

“Just reconnecting with the world,” Riddle answered, looking pleased with himself. “I don’t see the snake here. How did it go?”

 

Hermione grimaced. “We talked, but she didn’t seem to understand my questions.”

 

“It is a snake, you can’t think of it as a human,” Riddle said, rolling his eyes. “You only need to figure out how to make it do your bidding.”

 

“Why didn’t you say so?” Hermione asked, annoyed. “Bullying creatures around doesn’t come naturally to all of us.”

 

“That’s not what your friends said,” Riddle commented, as he sat down on her bed. “I have lost track of how many times they have called you ‘bossy’.”

 

“Bossy and bully are not the same thing.”

 

Riddle leaned forward and Hermione noticed that his wand was hanging casually from his right hand. She tensed up, readying herself for the worst.

 

“Perhaps you are right. I want you to tell me what my dear ancestor has taught you, and I do think I’ll take a more bullying approach than that of a bossy individual.”

 

Hermione’s wand was lying next to her in the armchair, and she grasped it. “I didn’t think you were interested in the Serpent of Midgard.”

 

“No, you misunderstood, I don’t care about dealing with the problem, but I’m very curious about our family secrets. I advise you to tell me voluntarily, but I don’t mind providing you with encouragement.”

 

Hermione weighed her options. Should she resist, and no doubt be tortured until she told him, or tell him everything she knew? It wasn’t as if it was that much. The book she had read today had told her a bit more, but nothing useful. There would be no harm in telling him everything she knew right now. In fact, it was probably best to do it now, so he wouldn’t ask later on, when she had gained more information.

 

With a sigh, she closed her book and put it aside. “There is no need to torture me. It’s not as if there is that much to tell, Slytherin was more focused on teaching me the spells to put the Serpent to sleep. He only told me a bit of his family history. I don’t think any of it is to be considered a real secret.”

 

“Humour me.”

 

“He spent a lot of time teaching me the different spells that it takes to command the Serpent of Midgard, as well as a bit of the magical theory behind its creation. Loki used the blood from various magical creatures, and impregnated a female giant. She died giving birth to it,” Hermione said, grimacing.

 

“What different sorts of blood did he use?” Riddle asked. She was not in the least surprised that he didn’t seem to care one bit about the poor giant.

 

“Besides his own, he used the blood of three different types of dragons, giants, a basilisk and the bootlace worm, the longest known animal, which partly explains how the Serpent of Midgard became so long. But despite that, it took magic that not even Slytherin knew about to make it grow to that size. It shouldn’t be possible with the magical knowledge we have, but somehow, Loki did it.”

 

Riddle looked thoughtful. “What did Slytherin tell you about Loki?”

 

“Not much. Loki’s past is quite mysterious; he never spoke about it to his children. Human children, I mean. Slytherin was related to Loki’s youngest son, who was raised by Heimdall, one of the few ‘gods’ that survived the final battle between Loki and Odin. Heimdall told him what he knew, but they were mostly things that had happened after Loki appeared in Asgard. Oh, and Asgard was on an island that sank during the battle. Or well, Slytherin thinks the Serpent destroyed it.”

 

“But what did Salazar know about Loki?” Riddle pressed.

 

Hermione hesitated. She had found out more about Loki by reading Slytherin’s books, and even though most of it was probably exaggerated, Riddle had a history of putting his fate in stupid tales. Like the prophecy (which wouldn’t have come true if he hadn’t made it come true, stupid arse).

 

“Loki was probably just partly wizard and partly something else, non-human. The myths say he was half-giant, but no one knew for sure. He was a very powerful magician and he seemed to have approached the Æsir wizards to learn more from them. This was not strange at all. Æsir wasn’t an ethnic group; Asgard was more like a refuge for wizards that had been forced to leave their former settlements for some reason.

 

“Odin was their leader, he was also a powerful wizard and said to be a prophet. Together, they seemed to have found a way to stop ageing completely. They proclaimed themselves as immortal, but it seems like they could die by force in the end. There are numerous tales of Æsir that died in accidents or murder.” Hermione paused and studied Riddle to see his reaction to the information. Everyone knew he wanted to become immortal.

 

Riddle, however, didn’t seem surprised by it, and he didn’t ask her to elaborate.

 

“Loki was said to have been very beautiful, but he was also a great illusionist and could change his gender, race and species. He met an Àsynja, named Sigyn, and they had two boys, Vali and Nari. He seemed to have been quite obsessed with changing the nature of people. He used his own son, Vali, to create the first werewolf.  After that, Sigyn left with Nari and was given protection by Heimdall.

 

“It’s not clear where the ability to speak to snakes came from, but it would appear that Loki did something to either his own blood, or Nari’s that changed it. But from what Slytherin told me, this has become less and less apparent in each generation. Slytherin’s father told Slytherin that his grandfather had been able to transform into a snake, but not like an Animagus. Slytherin also had an uncle who was born with a snake-like appearance, but he didn’t survive for long. Maybe Loki experimented on Nari to figure out the best way to create the Serpent of Midgard, but no one knows.”

 

Riddle processed this in silence for a few seconds. “And these spells to control the Serpent, how do they work?”

 

“I’ll have to show you,” Hermione said and rose, wand in hand. “But as I found out, this is only part of it. The spell is in Parseltongue, but apparently, you have to use the force of a Parselmouth as well, not just the magic.”

 

She performed the spell for Riddle and then sat down again.

 

“Interesting,” Riddle said. “Speaking the spell in Parseltongue is changing the way you need to move your body to perform your spell. I wonder…”

 

He trailed off and rose, starting to pace back and forth. Hermione didn’t disturb him. She too had noticed that you couldn’t move the way she had been taught to move, during the different phases of casting a spell, when she did these spells. It seemed like the foundation of the spells was different, because of the language which they were spoken in.

 

“Have you tried casting the spells translated?” Riddle asked.

 

Hermione frowned. “What would be the point of that? You don’t translate spells in Latin or Greek to another language.”

 

“No, they don’t work, or they work differently than they were intended to. But have you tried it?”

 

She shook her head. She had once asked Professor Flitwick why spells had origins in different languages, and Flitwick had explained that magic itself was like a language. If you didn’t say it the right way or with the right pronunciation, it usually didn’t work, and sometimes, it led to disasters. It was as if the magic didn’t understand what you wanted it to do, if you didn’t tell it in the right way.

 

It was like if you went into a Portuguese restaurant and tried to order in French. Hopefully, what you said wouldn’t make any sense to the Portuguese waiter, but if you were unlucky, you could end up insulting someone.

 

However, the relationship between magic and the caster seemed even more complicated than that. She had been surprised to learn that ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ wasn’t the only word you could use to make something levitate. In China, they had the same spell, but another word, and different wand movements.

 

Spells had been discovered and taught in different cultures for thousands of years. It was common that they were developed in the language the creator spoke. There were a few spells which were completely in English, created by a couple of eccentric wizards and witches. However, the majority of wizards saw it as a waste of time to make new spells, so few new spells had been created in the past couple of centuries.

 

Therefore, Hermione was certain that nothing good would come from translating the spells in Parseltongue. But it was an idea that made her curious.

 

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by Riddle coming to a halt in front of her.

 

“I want you to experiment with those spells on snakes and see what happens. After you have gained some understanding of what being a Parselmouth means,” he ordered her.

 

Hermione sighed, but nodded. She didn’t mind testing out magic, but she hated that he had ordered her to do so.

 

“Also, in a few days, I’ll bring home some guests. You’ll be there to serve us some refreshments. But you are to stay out of our way, and don’t speak up. Think of yourself as my personal house-elf,” Riddle added with a smile.

 

Hermione looked at him in astonishment. “If you for a second—”

 

She broke off as the pain from yesterday started to boil in her veins, but before she even had time to scream, he broke the spell.

 

“It will be a training session in obedience, dear sister,” Riddle said softly, as he walked up to her. “And you’d be wise to fear my displeasure in this matter. My guests are quite ruthless, and you do not want me to ask them to partake in your punishment if you fail me.”

 

Hermione felt sick to her stomach when he smiled.

 

He stroked her cheek. “But, if you please me, I will reward you by not asking what you could possibly be up to which makes you lock the door. In fact, I won’t even disturb you when your door is locked. At least, not for a little while.”

 

He straightened again and started to walk out of the room. “Think about it,” he said. “Dinner will be ready in half-an-hour.”

 

He closed the door behind him, leaving Hermione alone with a heart beating rapidly in fear.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to me!!! Here is a new chapter, in celebration of my birthday! Yay! Thank you, so, so much Ozzy, for betaing this chapter, a dragon will be guarding you for all times. Also want to thank everyone who have read, faved, kudos:ed and reviewed!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 9**

 

“I’m not going to wear that,” Hermione said, staring, appalled at the dress on her bed.

Riddle smiled. “Of course you are. You have five minutes to rant about it, but then you have to get dressed. I’ll go pick them up.”

 

Before Hermione had time to respond, he was gone. Hermione growled and cursed him. Who did he think he was, forcing her to wear something so ridiculous? She would look like the porn-version of a French maid!

 

Unless…

 

Hermione smiled and quickly pulled off her trousers and t-shirt. He had only said that she had to wear it, not that she couldn’t make adjustments to it. After all, he couldn’t be expected to know her size, and he didn’t want her to look ridiculous now, did he?

 

Stepping in front of the mirror, she snorted at the dress. Riddle must have been joking. Or at the very least, he was testing her, because there was no way in hell he could expect that she would allow anyone to see her like this.

 

She waved her wand, extending the skirt of the black dress, until it reached her knees. She then removed the silly lace at the arms, and pondered over what to do with the low neckline. Perhaps she could wear a top underneath? Her magical sewing-abilities didn’t help with much more than fixing tears and, well, extending or removing what was already there. Yes, a black top underneath would cover her enough.

 

She did, however, put on the white apron, even if that too felt insulting. But she was to play some sort of waitress and the apron seemed to go with the role. Why Riddle wanted her to play a waitress was still a mystery to her. He hadn’t asked her to cook or anything, just told her what she was to do once the guests arrived and then shown her the dress.

 

If she had to guess, she would say that he wanted to make a good impression on his guests. Having servants would make him seem wealthy, even if the meeting took place in a cottage. She was sure that could be explained by security concerns or whatever. He had said that these were dark wizards after all.

 

Or maybe he just wanted to torment her. That didn’t seem unlikely either. Perhaps it was indeed just a “training session in obedience”, as he had put it. Well, she could play games too. She’d be on her best behaviour and find out as much as she could about these dark wizards. It would only help her to identify them and send them off to prison once she was out of Riddle’s reach. Then he would stand there without any followers.

 

The thought made her feel smug, and when she heard Riddle open the front door again, she was able to walk out of her room with a neutral expression.

 

He was standing in the middle of the room with two men Hermione had never seen before. One of them was big and bald with a scar running across the left side of his face, while the other was shorter, thinner, and sporting a mane of red hair with a beard.

 

“Sir?” she inquired. One of his rules had been that she were to address him as if he was her master.

 

Riddle eyed her for a moment, but didn’t seem displeased with her attire. “Hermione, dear, bring these gentlemen something to drink.”

 

She bowed and went to the kitchen side of the living room, while Riddle led the men to the seating area.

 

“So you two kids are just living here alone?” the bald one asked, as he looked around the room.

 

“Sure, we can say that, Hans,” Riddle said with a smile, sitting down in the armchair closest to the wall.

 

The other two sat down in the armchairs which were turned away from the kitchen area. Therefore, only Riddle could see Hermione.

 

“I don’t even know what we are doing here,” the other man muttered, as Hermione came over with the drinks Riddle had prepared earlier.

 

The man Riddle had called Hans eyed her as he accepted his drink. It made Hermione’s skin crawl in disgust and she instinctively disliked the man.

 

“Well, I guess you are here because Hans couldn’t bring Charles and Jack,” Riddle said and took a sip from his drink. “Have they regained consciousness yet?”

 

Hans’s face tightened. “No,” he said shortly, clearly holding back anger.

 

Riddle seemed pleased by this. “There you go then.”

 

Hermione went back to the kitchen area and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. Riddle would signal her when he needed her again, and until then, she’d just sit there and try not to be bored.

 

“We only came here to talk,” Hans said, his voice still strained. “Thomas here had some ideas on how we can improve our group.”

 

Hermione arched an eyebrow. Thomas? If he was going for a fake name, why did he choose something so similar to his own?

 

“What could he possibly know?” The other man sounded very hostile.

 

Riddle chuckled. “What indeed, Louis? Tell me, how is your wife? Still haunting you after you killed her? It must be really frustrating, never being able to bed another woman without her popping in and giving you pointers.”

 

The man flew up, his wand aimed at Riddle. “Who the fuck have you been talking to?”

Riddle looked very unimpressed by the wand. Hans reached out and grabbed Louis’s arm, dragging him down into the armchair again.

 

“Don’t make a fool of yourself, Lu,” Hans muttered.

 

“What the fuck, Hans? Who is this kid?”

 

“Someone worth listening to, you stupid arse,” Hand said, his tone final. “Now sit down and be quiet, or I’ll Imperio you myself.”

 

Hans seemed to have enough authority over Louis, because he didn’t say another word.

 

“With that resolved,” Riddle said, looking quite amused, “I’d like to know more about your order. How is the search for dragons coming along?”

 

“We have two dragons,” Hans said, even though he sounded reluctant to share the information. “We have a dragon trainer on our side, and he is teaching me how to ride and control one of them. But finding other dragons is hard because of the regulations on handling them. There are rarely any dragons available.”

 

“I have better connections,” Riddle said casually. “Dragons are easy to come by when you know who to talk to. I’m surprised your dragon trainer doesn’t know anyone else.”

 

“He isn’t from around here,” Hans said dismissively.

 

“Oh? Where is he from?”

 

“Someplace colder. He always wears a lot of coats. He’s a crazy fucker, that’s for sure.”

 

Hermione heard Hans take a swig of his drink and Riddle looked at her, making a small gesture with his glass, indicating that a refill was in order. Hermione quickly did as ordered and went to fill up Hans’s glass. Riddle wasn’t even one third through his glass, and Louis didn’t seem to be drinking at all. She returned to the kitchen again.

 

“How many are you?” Riddle asked.

 

“Thirty, forty, depending on the occasion. We did a ritual last full moon, thirty-seven came then. Powerful stuff.”

 

Riddle frowned. “A draining ritual?”

 

“How did you know that?” Hans asked, sounding surprised.

 

Riddle gave him a condescending look. “I assumed at least one of those thirty-seven knew which ritual is most effective during which full moon. And since I highly doubt you would be interested in the various fertility rituals that can be performed…”

 

Riddle trailed off with a chuckle.

 

Hans laughed as well. “Nah, we aren’t into that. We found ourselves a couple of lads from some farm and sucked them dry.”

 

“Muggles?”

 

“Yeah, too many wizards died in the war, we don’t want to use our own.”

 

Riddle nodded. “Probably wise. And you don’t attract as much attention when you use Muggles. I assume their bodies won’t be found?”

 

“’Course not. We are pros.”

 

Riddle looked as if he doubted that, but glanced at Hermione. She had a hard time not taking out her wand and killing them all where they sat. How could they just sit there and talk about murder so casually? And for what? Some ritual? Her hands trembled with anger, and she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath to prevent herself from doing anything stupid.

 

She focused on remembering who they were and what they looked like. Once she was out of here, she would report them to Kingsley. He would bring them to justice.

 

“You were just gathering for fun, then?” Riddle asked.

 

“What’s wrong with that?” Hans asked, sounding annoyed.

 

“Nothing wrong, per se, but why not use the group for something more productive?”

 

“Nah, we are not into the Dark Arts for some world domination shit like … You know. We just want to have some fun, meet like-minded people.”

 

Hermione looked up again to see Riddle lean back in his armchair. “Yes, but once you start riding on dragons, you’ll gain a lot more attention.”

 

“Our dragon trainer doesn’t think so. There are plenty of places where you can ride dragons without anyone noticing. We thought it could be fun to start tournaments to compete against each other.”

 

“You’ll need more dragons for that,” Riddle remarked.

 

“Yeah, I guess.”

 

Hans emptied another glass and Riddle signalled for Hermione again. Holding in her anger, she went over with the container and filled Hans’s glass again. Riddle was now halfway through his and Louis still wasn’t drinking.

 

“Are you afraid I’m trying to poison you, Louis?” Riddle asked, also noting Louis full glass.

 

“You can never be too careful,” Louis remarked darkly.

 

Riddle chuckled. “Well, I can assure you there is nothing to worry about. In fact, why don’t you show him, Hermione?”

 

Hermione looked at him, questioningly. She had just been about to leave again.

Riddle gestured for her to take the glass. She suppressed a sigh and reached out for Louis’s glass. Well, at least he hadn’t drunk from it yet.

 

She took a sip and swallowed. It was much stronger than anything she had drunk before and tasted quite bitter. She hid a grimace.

 

“Pah, my gran takes bigger mouthfuls than that,” Hans scoffed.

 

Hermione looked at Riddle who gave her a meaningful look, telling her to drink more.

 

Fine, maybe some alcohol would make listening to them more bearable for her. She took another gulp, swallowing it at once. This time, she couldn’t suppress a grimace at the bitter taste. Her throat was burning unpleasantly.

 

Hans laughed. “Your servant doesn’t seem to like it much, Thomas.”

 

“She is young. I’m still breaking her in.” Riddle dismissed her again with a wave of his hand.

 

With her back turned to them, Hermione shook her head and made a face.

 

“At least she is easy on the eyes. I’ve always hated those purebloods with their house-elves. Why would anyone want to see those creatures every day?”

 

Yes, Hermione would take great pleasure in turning this man over to the authorities. Maybe she would visit him in prison just to let him know she had been the one to put him away?

 

As she sat down, she could see Louis finally beginning to drink. She wondered why Riddle wanted them drunk. She was already feeling a slight buzz. Sure, the men were bigger than her and could probably handle a lot more alcohol, but it was clear that Riddle wanted them drunk.

 

Hm, the drink had tasted quite well though, now that she thought about it. She felt a slight yearning to drink some more.

 

She had just poured herself a glass when she froze. She didn’t like alcohol. She didn’t like being intoxicated. Why would she pour herself some more of this clearly strong—

 

Oh, he had drugged the drink. She spun around and looked at him. He saw her stare of disbelief and smiled, bringing his drink up to his lips and taking another sip.

 

But how could that be? She had poured his drink from the same container as she had the others. His drink must be drugged as well. So it couldn’t be anything life-threatening at least. Probably just something to make you want to drink more. Like lust stimulation, but for the drink.

 

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him talk to the others. He was showing off his restraint. But for what reason, she didn’t know. Did he just want to torment her? He must have realised she would figure out once he had her taste the drink. Or had he hoped she wouldn’t, and would succumb to the lure of the potion as well? What for?

 

Boy, that drink looked delicious. Sitting there on the counter, all white and sparkly, the ice shimmering as she moved the glass—

 

No! She put the glass down forcefully and the drink splashed out, onto her hand. Before she had time to think, she moved her hand up to her mouth and licked the liquid off. It was just a few drops, but it still made her feel really good. She bit back a moan. Bloody Tom Riddle.

 

She quickly washed her hand at the sink and dried it with a towel. Before the temptation returned, she turned her back to the container of the brewage and crossed her arms, tucking her hands against the sides of her body, to stop them from betraying her again. She scowled at Riddle when she saw him looking at her with mirth his eyes. She ignored him and tuned into the conversation again.

 

“… requires. So it’s not like they have to do much, we just make sure they aren’t spies or anything and then they can try it out for a year. If we deem them worthy, they are in,” Hans was just saying.

 

“And what about drop-outs?”

 

“Hasn’t happened,” Hans said proudly.

 

“But you must have some plan in case someone wants to get out,” Riddle pressed.

 

“Nah, we’ll deal with it when we deal with it, where did the girl go?” Hans turned around in his chair and looked at her. “Oi, girl, more drinks!”

 

Hermione hurried over with the container, forcing herself to not take a sip. How could they drink it so slowly? If she had been unaware of the drug, she would probably have drank several glasses by now.

 

She poured out more for Hans, and now Riddle also wanted a refill, as did Louis.

 

“Seems a bit unfair that you don’t get to drink any, Hermione,” Riddle said sweetly. “I know how much you like this.”

 

Hans chuckled. “She didn’t seem to like it too much before.”

 

“She is just slow at the start,” Riddle assured him.

 

“Well, in that case…”

 

Hermione let out a yelp when Hans grabbed her from behind and pulled her into his lap. He placed his glass against her mouth.

 

“Go ahead, love, no one can say Hans Lejon doesn’t know how to treat a lady!”

 

She couldn’t resist it. When the liquid reached her lips, she opened them and let the bitter tasting drink run down her throat. She still found it disgusting, but it was as if that didn’t matter anymore. All she could feel was the pleasure. The drink made her whole body feel warm and fuzzy, and all her worries disappeared like magic. She wasn’t even bothered that Hans’s free hand was on her thigh, stroking it.

 

The glass disappeared from her lips and she let out a groan of displeasure. Hans laughed.

 

“Who is this anyway?” he asked.

 

“Just someone who is willing to do what she is told, to learn what she wants to know,” Riddle replied casually. “I’m teaching her obedience tonight. She can be quite feisty.”

 

Hans laughed again. The alcohol seemed to be getting to him as well. “I’d be happy to help you out with that, Thomas, I know exactly what a girl needs to learn respect.”

 

He squeezed her thigh, hard.

 

At once, Hermione was ripped out of her pleasurable haze. She was still enough in her senses to know that she did not want to do what he implied. She slapped his hand away and jumped off his lap, drawing her wand at the same time.

 

Without even stopping to think of the consequences, she fired the first spell that came to mind.

 

Hans flew off his seat when two dozen birds attacked him, pecking at his face. He screamed, covering his face with his hands. Hermione lifted her wand again, ready to do something even more unpleasant to that hardness she had felt against her backside when she had been on his lap, but before she had the chance, Riddle grabbed her arm.

 

“I think that’s enough alcohol for one night, don’t you?” Riddle said and waved his own wand at Hans, ending her spell.

 

Hermione looked at him, suddenly worried. He had said that he would punish her if she misbehaved, and that he would let the other two help him. But all he did was lead her to the door to her room and push her inside.

 

“I’ll check on you later,” he said and closed the door.

 

Hermione stared after him. That was it? No public torture? What was he playing at?

Sighing, she sat down on the bed. Her head had started to spin from the alcohol, and she still wouldn’t have said no to more. Bloody Tom Riddle.

 

This wasn’t working. She needed to find some way to turn the tables. Biding her time and waiting until she found out more wouldn’t cut it. She couldn’t just sit by and listen to them talking casually about killing Muggles and making crude jokes about disciplining her.

 

And she would no doubt get punished for the hexing before the night was over.

 

But what would she do? What could she do? It was not like she knew any way to stop him, other than killing him, and there was no way she could kill him. Or was there?

 

No, she still needed him to teach her about the complexities of being a Parselmouth.

 

But that wasn’t forever. She could lay out the groundwork for murdering him. It would be hard. She stood no chance of killing him in a duel or anything like that. No, it would have to be sneaky and unexpected. Which was hard when you were up against someone as paranoid as him.

 

But maybe there was something she could do…

 

xxx

 

Tom spent another half-an-hour with his guests before sending them away. The Order of Katla wanted to have fun and be free of anything having to do with regulations. Well, Tom could work with that. He was sure Hans and the others would be eager to do some small jobs in exchange for more fun.

 

What interested Tom the most was the dragon trainer. Hans didn’t seem to know him that well, but trusted that they were both just looking for entertainment. Tom wondered if this dragon trainer could have some other plans for the gang, once he got hold of more dragons. Tom would have to meet him. While Hans was the official head of the group, he was too simple-minded to be a real leader. He probably had several advisers guiding him about where they wanted him to go. Tom couldn’t have that. He wanted Hans to only listen to him.

 

His gaze went to the closed door to Granger’s room. Tonight had been informative in many ways. Granger was vicious when threatened. Very vicious. If he hadn’t stopped the spell, he was sure Hans would have ended up with some serious damage. And despite the amount of alcohol she had drunk, she had still been in control of her magic.

 

Rising from the armchair, he went over to Granger’s door. Her cravings for the drink should have subsided by now. It was only a mild lust-inducing potion, making the drinker want more at once. You built up a resistance to it pretty quickly, which was why Hans’s drinking had started to slow down after his fifth refill. But by then, he had been just as drunk as Tom had wanted him to be.

 

However, Tom had dosed the drink according to his own weight. Granger was smaller than him and had thus been even more drugged than Hans. Despite that, it should have left her system by now.

 

He opened the door and found Granger lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She lifted her head when he entered.

 

“I really hate you, you know that, right?” she asked.

 

“I assumed so, yes,” he replied, walking over to her bed and sitting down.

 

“So I guess you are going to punish me now for hexing someone who tried to sexually assault me?”

 

“Not yet, no. This was a very minor sidestep. I do expect you to protect yourself from other wizards; it’s not something I’m going to torture you over. I would have stopped him myself if he had tried to do something more than feel you up.”

 

“My knight in shining armour,” she muttered. It appeared that she was still quite drunk.

 

“However, since you failed to follow your orders, I will have to do something about that. But not tonight.”

 

She sat up and leaned closer to him. Her eyes were slightly unfocused. “Wow, you really are full of yourself, do you know that?”

 

“Need I remind you that you were the one who wanted to come with me? Actually, you begged me to take you along. You would make it easier for yourself if you would just do as you are told,” he said softly.

 

“And you should go back to looking like snake-face, it suits your personality more,” she said, and actually had the nerve to poke his cheek.

 

He swatted her hand away. “You are too drunk for this. We will talk again tomorrow.”

 

Granger, however, didn’t seem to be listening to him. Instead, she tried to poke his nose. When he swatted her hand away again, she started to giggle. She then proceeded to poke the rest of his body, as if she were trying to tickle him.

 

“Granger!” he called out, irritated.

 

It only made her giggle more. He was forced to take her hands and hold them down between them.

 

“What’s so funny?” he asked, as she kept laughing.

 

“I just realised, that must be why you preferred to look like snakey; if you didn’t look human, people wouldn’t treat you like a human. They would never even consider that you were ticklish!” At her last word, she broke free again and launched herself at him, pressing fingers into his sides.

 

“Bloody hell,” Tom groaned and tried to reach for his wand, but Granger’s hands were in the way. He thus decided to physically restrain her. Once again, he managed to grip her hands, and this time he turned her around and straddled her back.

 

Despite that, Granger was still laughing and even though she tried to squirm free, he could feel that there was no real effort behind her movements.

 

“Don’t make me hex you, Granger,” he said softly, finally withdrawing his wand and pressing it into her neck.

 

Her laughs died out and she grew still. When he was certain she wasn’t going to try anything else, he got off her.

 

He was just about to get off the bed, when she started talking again.

 

“I’ve never had a sibling.”

 

Tom sighed. “What are you on about now?”

 

“I’ve seen siblings do this. Tickling and stuff. But I’ve never had a sibling to do it with.” Her tone was sad.

 

“I advise you not to do it again,” he said, finally getting off her and off the bed.

 

She turned around and looked at him. “No, I guess not. Any playful act with you would just end up being bloody and gory.”

 

“Quite.”

 

She yawned. “Merlin, you are a pain, Riddle.”

 

“Just go to sleep, Granger. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

 

And for the first time that night, she followed his order without delay.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go, new chapter, before the end of 2014! (At least here in Sweden, you in Australia and part of Asia are already in 2015. How is it there?) And coincidentally, Tom and Hermione are going to Sweden as well in this chapter.
> 
> As always, I'd like to thank Ozzy for being a wonderful beta! And then I want to thank everyone who have read, reviewed, kudos'ed and bookmarked this story! I really appreciate it!
> 
> Enjoy and happy new year!

**Chapter 10**

 

“We are moving,” Riddle said, the moment he came through the door.

 

Hermione looked up from where she was sitting, with the snake in her lap. “Why? Where to?”

 

“Because I said so, and to Sweden. Pack your bags,” Riddle said, stalking across the living room towards his room.

 

“But I’ve just started to learn how to control snakes!” Hermione complained.

 

“They have snakes in Sweden,” Riddle called back, before his door swung shut.

 

Hermione stared after him, but then sighed. There was not much that could be done when he was in that mood. Maybe this would be for the best; some change in scenery?

 

She thanked the snake for its help and then let it out into the forest again. Once she was back inside her room, it only took her a few minutes to pack. It wasn’t as if she had unpacked upon arrival; she had just taken the things she needed out of her bag and then put them back again. She wanted to be able to leave at a moment’s notice.

 

When she came out into the living room again, Riddle was already there. It seemed he had been ready to leave quickly as well.

 

“Done?” he asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

He took her arm and without another word, he Apparated them. They didn’t get all the way to Sweden, since that would have required multiple Apparations, but they landed at a site which had brooms at the ready. Despite her dislike for brooms, she mounted it without a word and set off after Tom. She really did wish she could have been able to Apparate longer distances, but it was dangerous. The only option was to Apparate many times in a row, but the Ministry didn’t recommend that. The more times you did it consecutively, the more disoriented you became and the risk of Splinching increased greatly.

 

It took over an hour to fly, and when they landed, Hermione was stiff and felt sick. She was not a good flyer at all, but she would be damned if she let Riddle know that. Taking a deep breath, she managed to keep the contents of her stomach inside. Then she took the opportunity to look around. On the whole way down, she had just focused on following Riddle.

 

They were in yet another forest, but this one contained more pine and fir trees. They were standing on a small muddy road which seemed to have been recently used by cars. Despite it being the end of summer, it was really hot, and Hermione was glad she hadn’t bothered to put her robes on. Riddle must be sweating in his.

 

“Why are we here?” she asked.

 

“Remember the dragon trainer Hans talked about?” Riddle asked.

 

“Vaguely,” Hermione replied dryly. Nothing would make her forget that night.

 

“I found out where he lived, and we’re going to go and pay him a visit,” Riddle said, and started to walk up the road.

 

Hermione followed him. “Why do you want to meet him?”

 

“Because I do,” Riddle replied calmly.

 

Hermione sighed, but didn’t ask him to elaborate. If she kept close, she would no doubt find out his reasons soon enough.

 

They rounded a corner and came to a farm. Hermione glanced at it, noting cows and horses in different pens, around a red painted house, but nothing special.

 

She was just about to walk past the road leading down to the house when Riddle grabbed her arm and forced her down the road. Hermione had a strong feeling of dislike and tried to pull back.

 

“It’s a repellent charm, Granger,” Riddle said, with a sigh. “Fight it.”

 

Hermione suddenly became aware of the ward. Of course. There were car tracks here, so Muggles probably drove by all the time. A wizard would have to keep hidden. However, why was it affecting her? Wards to keep Muggles out usually didn’t affect wizards and witches.

 

Unless it was a ward against magical people too? But why—

 

Her answer came the moment they were through the ward. The horses and cows she had seen were gone, and instead, two dragons were resting, one in each pen, chained to some sort of metallic pole. Both of them were young, one of them was the same height as her. It was chained in the pen right next to the house. When they came closer, it lifted its head and blew out some smoke from its nostrils.

 

Riddle went up to it and the dragon slowly rose. Riddle mumbled something Hermione couldn’t hear and stretched out a hand for the dragon.

 

“Riddle, are you sure you want to—” Hermione started, but was interrupted by the door to the house bursting open.

 

“Vad i helvete håller ni på med ungar?” A man came running out of the house, yelling.

 

As he reached Riddle, he grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back, away from the dragon.

 

The man opened his mouth to yell some more, but Riddle had withdrawn his wand and was aiming it the man.

 

“Let go of me,” Riddle said, coldly.

 

The man’s eyes narrowed. “If you are a wizard, you should know how dangerous dragons are.”

 

“I have experience with dragons,” Riddle said. “She wasn’t going to hurt me. Or were you, Clarabella?”

 

The dragon snorted out some smoke again.

 

The man slowly let go of Riddle, a smile spreading over his lips. “A fellow dragon trainer! Why didn’t you say so? Come in!”

 

Now when the situation didn’t seem so threatening, Hermione had the opportunity to take in the other man. He was tall, just as tall as Riddle, and with similar jet black hair. But his eyes were green, and warmer than Riddle’s had ever been. However, it was his attire due to which Hermione was taken aback. He was wearing a short green dressing gown, reaching halfway down his thighs, and rain boots which came halfway up to his knees. What surprised her the most was that his legs were completely hairless.

 

He opened the door for them and they entered into a big, bright foyer with large windows.

 

“Remove your shoes,” the man ordered, as he kicked off his own rain boots and walked into a hallway. “Mads, Ess, I’m afraid we have company.”

 

Two disappointed groans came from another room. A moment later, two blond women appeared in the hallway, both dressed in long dressing gowns. Hermione suddenly realised what must have been going on, and she blushed and looked down, focused on untying her shoes.

 

“I thought we were going to have a full weekend, Gabriel,” one of the women said, disappointed.

 

“Sorry, love, I have to take this. But why don’t you and Mads drive down to town. I’ll try to call you later.”

 

Hermione looked up just in time to see the man – Gabriel – kiss both of the women. She glanced up at Riddle and saw him watching the scene with polite interest. Well, of course he wouldn’t feel embarrassed by something like this.

 

The two women disappeared into the room again and Gabriel made a gesture for them to follow him in the other direction. They came into a big kitchen, with a wooden kitchen table at the centre.

 

“Sit down, I feel like we have a lot to talk about,” Gabriel said. “I’m Gabriel, if you didn’t get that already.”

 

“So we heard,” Riddle replied.

 

“And I recognise you now,” Gabriel continued, not even looking at Riddle. “At first, I thought you were a pair of Goth kids. So hard to tell the difference between wizards and all those Muggle Goths running around these days. But you are Hermione Granger, the war heroine from the United Kingdom.”

 

Hermione was taken aback. She glanced at Riddle who just shrugged.

 

“Well, yes, I am,” Hermione admitted. “I didn’t think anyone would recognise me, though.”

 

“Why wouldn’t I? You, Potter and that red-haired kid were on the front page of every newspaper in the wizarding world, back in May. I always remember a pretty face,” Gabriel said, winking.

 

Hermione smiled uncertainly. Was he flirting with her? He was still not dressed after whatever he had been doing with two other women!

 

“Okay, Gabriel, we’re leaving. You had better call,” one of the women called from the foyer.

 

“I will! Drive carefully!” Gabriel called back.

 

The door slammed shut.

 

Riddle cleared his throat. “As I was saying—”

 

Gabriel, however, held up his hand and stood up, looking out of the kitchen window. Hermione frowned and looked at Riddle who seemed very frustrated. What was going on? Should she warn Gabriel? She could see Riddle’s wand hand twitching.

 

The sound of a car engine turning on was heard from the yard, and the next moment, the car drove off. The sound died away in the distance.

 

Gabriel smiled and then sat down again. “Now then. I recognise you too, which is why I wanted my Muggle friends to get away from here.”

 

Hermione could see Riddle tense and his hand moved to his wand.

 

“I find it quite surprising, to tell you the truth,” Gabriel continued carelessly, leaning back into the wooden chair. “If I’m not mistaken, she became a heroine because of your death. Or did you two pull some sort of scam? She gets the glory and you get to… what? Change appearance? But why would you change back to your old one, I wonder?”

 

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Riddle said, his voice natural.

 

“Please, Tom. We are all friends here,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “I don’t care if you are alive or not, and it’s not like I have anyone to tell.”

 

Riddle drew his wand quicker than Hermione did, but Gabriel was even faster, and he summoned both their wands. Riddle looked completely baffled.

 

“Who are you?” Hermione asked, amazed.

 

Gabriel shrugged. “Just someone who wants to live in peace and have fun. Not that you kids would understand that, from what I can tell, you are both ridiculous overachievers.”

 

“I’m not!” Hermione disagreed, not wanting anyone to ever put her and Tom Riddle in the same category.

 

Gabriel looked at her, skeptically. “Oh yes, I imagine you get those grades by sleeping in a lot? And all kids try to take down Dark Lords on the weekends, I take it?”

 

Hermione blushed. Okay, so maybe she could be seen as an overachiever. At least she wasn’t trying to rule the world!

 

“How do you know who I am, then?” Riddle asked. “You don’t seem a day older than thirty, so you can’t possibly have seen me when I was young.”

 

“Funny, because you appear young right now. It’s almost as if looks can be deceiving,” Gabriel remarked.

 

“But you aren’t wearing a glamour,” Riddle said, slowly. “A potion, then?”

 

“Eternal youth,” Gabriel said, with a smile. “Found it in the Middle East some years ago and haven’t aged a day since. Now I’m living life to the fullest. You should try that sometime, Tom.”

 

“I am.”

 

Gabriel appeared to doubt that very much. His eyes fell down to the two wands which were still in his left hand. He frowned.

 

“Well, hello, what do we have here,” he muttered to himself, and picked up Riddle’s wand. He studied it closely, then he looked up at Riddle again. “This isn’t your wand.”

 

“Yes, it is,” Riddle said and quickly made a gesture with his hand. The wand flew out from Gabriel’s hand and back into Riddle’s. “ _Avada Kedavra_.”

 

Hermione was shocked that Riddle would pull something like that so quickly. But she was even more shocked when the spell hit an invisible barrier and disappeared.

 

That wasn’t possible. Nothing could stop the Killing Curse. You could only try to avoid getting hit by it, but it would hit something else, and destroy it. It couldn’t just disappear once it had been released.

 

Riddle, however, didn’t seem to think much about it. When he saw that the spell had failed, he cast another. And another. And another. But all of them disappeared, just an inch in front of Gabriel.

 

“How long will you keep that up?” Gabriel asked after the fifth spell. He seemed rather bored.

Riddle paused, his expression guarded. “How do you do that?”

 

“Ah, yes, let me draw you a picture so you can find a way around it and kill me.” Gabriel rolled his eyes and rose. “I invited you into my house because I thought we might have some things to talk about. But if you are going to be this rude, then maybe I’ll revoke that invitation.”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing personal. I just can’t have anyone knowing who I am,” Riddle said, also rising from his chair.

 

“I see. Well, as I said, I won’t tell anyone.”

 

“I can’t trust you.”

 

“You’ll have to. You won’t be able to hurt me, but believe me when I say, I can hurt you.” Something dark flashed through Gabriel’s eyes and he made a quick gesture with his wand.

 

The only flash of magic, though, came from the shield Riddle had instantly thrown up. However, the next moment, Riddle fell down on the floor, groaning in pain. Hermione’s eyes widened in shock, and she looked from Riddle to Gabriel.

 

His eyes were no longer warm and filled with joy. He stared down at Riddle with a cold darkness in his eyes. It was a darkness Hermione recognised. She had seen it in Riddle’s eyes every time he had tortured her.

 

Whoever this man was, he was just as adept at the Dark Arts as Riddle was. Perhaps even more so, if he could break through Riddle’s defences. Who the hell was he? How come she had never heard of him before?

 

And, most importantly, should she cheer him on for cursing Riddle, or run as far away as she could before he turned on her?

 

Before she could make up her mind, Gabriel ended the curse, and Riddle stopped screaming. He lay on the floor, shivering, blood running from his nose and ears.

 

Gabriel sighed, went to a closet and picked out a kitchen towel. He threw it at Riddle.

 

“I told you so,” he said, but he didn’t sound smug at all. Instead, Hermione detected a hint of bitterness in his voice.

 

“Will you try to kill me too?” Gabriel asked, turning to her.

 

Hermione snapped out of the shock and stared at him. “No, clearly, I would fail.”

 

“Yes you would,” he confirmed, and handed her back her wand. “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed. You can leave if you want to, I won’t blame you. But if you stay, we do have a lot to talk about.”

 

He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Hermione quite confused. It seemed like Gabriel wasn’t like the other Dark Arts users she had encountered. In fact, he didn’t seem to be like anyone she had ever encountered, period. There was something mesmerising about him. In retrospect, she wondered why she hadn’t tried to do something to stop him. She still needed Riddle, after all, and for all she had known, Gabriel could have killed him. Why hadn’t she done anything?

 

“Granger,” Riddle rasped, breaking her train of thoughts.

 

She turned and saw that he had managed to make it into a sitting position.

 

“Heal me,” he ordered with a weak voice. Clearly, being tortured did nothing to humble him.

 

She sighed, but obliged. If they were to leave, she didn’t want to have to carry him out.

 

Not that she wanted to leave, she realised. There was something inside of her that wanted to stay. Maybe it was her curiosity, maybe it was something else. She just knew she should stay.

 

Riddle grunted as he rose. “Let’s go.”

 

“No,” she said. “We should find out what he wants to talk to us about.”

 

Riddle glared darkly at her. “I don’t care. We will come back when we have found a way to kill him.”

 

Hermione put her hands on her hips and glared back at him. “You don’t have to solve everything by killing. It doesn’t seem like he wants to hurt us, you forced him to. He seems to know a lot. Aren’t you curious?”

 

“No.”

 

“Liar.”

 

“Granger.”

 

“Riddle. It’s just talking. Or are you afraid?” she challenged him.

 

Riddle snorted, but Hermione knew she had got to him.

 

“I will find a way to kill him.”

 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I don’t doubt it. In the meantime, though, can’t we see if he is useful for something else?”

 

Riddle’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you so interested in him? Are you hoping he will teach you what he just did to me?”

 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Of course not, because you have never given me any reason to want to torture you.”

 

“It’s not like you would succeed, even if you tried.”

 

Hermione didn’t think she would either, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Let’s just talk with him for a while. We have our wands back, and we can leave whenever we wish.”

 

He stared at her, with a calculating expression, for several seconds. “You really want this. Are you hoping to join him in his Muggle sandwich?”

 

She snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

 

“I’m not, but you, however, seem to have forgotten what your mission is. Or do you think that this man can help you control snakes? Or get a basilisk for you to practice on?”

 

“No, of course not. But he seems to be a very powerful, knowledgeable wizard who doesn’t want to hurt me, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to him,” Hermione argued.

 

“And what if I do mind?” Riddle said, stepping closer to her.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“What if I told you that you have to choose? Either you stay here and talk to your new friend, or you leave with me. Now. What would you pick?” He came close to her and put two fingers under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

 

Hermione stared at him. “It’s not even a choice. I’d have to go with you, you know that.”

 

Riddle nodded and let go of her. “I just wanted to make sure you still remembered that. Well, then, I wonder if there is any coffee here.”

 

He went towards the cupboards and started to open them at random.

 

Hermione stared at him. “So we’re staying?”

 

“Of course,” Riddle said cheerfully. “He is a very powerful and knowledgeable wizard, after all. You don’t say no to those.”

 

Hermione snorted, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, she was growing suspicions. Why did Riddle want to stay? Gabriel had managed to kick him around like he was nothing! And Riddle was nothing if not self-preserving. He must think he had something to gain from this exchange, but what? Or did he just want to wait around until an opportunity to kill Gabriel arose?

 

What would she do then? What did she want to do? Hermione felt like this whole meeting had been very strange. She didn’t feel like herself. In fact, when she thought about Gabriel, she got a small flutter in her belly, something she hadn’t felt since… Lockhart.

 

She could feel her cheeks heat up and was glad Riddle was facing the other way. He had found the coffee, and for some reason, he seemed to know how to operate a Muggle coffee maker. Merlin, could he be right? Did she just want to stay here because she had got the hots for Gabriel?

 

Who would have known that all it took to gain her interest were shaved legs and the ability to torture Riddle for a bit?

 

She snorted again and went to sit down at the table. But for some reason, she couldn’t let go of that nagging feeling at the back of her mind that told her she was missing something.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Many thanks to Ozzy for betaing this chapter, and well, this whole story thus far. What would I do without her?
> 
> I also want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, bookmarked and kudosed! You give me something to smile at while on sick leave!

**Chapter 11**

Tom poured the coffee into a cup. Coffee was about the only thing that helped after such a curse. It would calm his nerves and reduce the shakings.

He sat down at the table again, cup in hand. He drank slowly. Granger could not be allowed to see how shaken up he actually was. He didn't want to acknowledge that himself either. It had been many years since he had last been tortured. A Dark Witch had tried to steal an artefact from him and managed to surprise him. He had been around thirty at the time. Since then, no one had managed to actually torture him. A couple of hexes had managed to get through his defences, but nothing like that.

Whoever Gabriel really was, he was dangerous. A part of Tom wanted to flee, but at the same time, he would not let Gabriel think he had scared him away. He was Tom Riddle, he didn't get scared. This was just a temporary setback. A miscalculation. Nothing to worry about.

He pressed his left hand between his thighs to stop it from shaking, and took another sip of the coffee. The hot brewage was starting to do its work, soothing him from the inside. He silently took a deep breath.

What kind of spell had it been? It had felt like a curse originated in blood magic, but Gabriel hadn't been able to get his blood. Also, his shield should have stopped a blood curse, but it hadn't. It was as if the magic hadn't appeared from Gabriel's wand. Instead, it had appeared right in front of Tom, bypassing the shield altogether. He had never heard of anything like it before. It shouldn't be possible.

Talking to Gabriel would be the only way to find out. There had to be some way to beat Gabriel. There always was.

Tom and Granger sat in silence for ten minutes, before Gabriel came back in again. He noted the coffee, but didn't comment on it.

"Let's move to the living room," Gabriel said. "It's more comfortable there."

Tom drank the last of his coffee and then followed Granger down the hallway, which opened up into a big living room. Even though the house was grand and probably cost a small fortune, there was no real luxury in the house. The lounging area in the living room was robust, but plain, with no decoration. The walls were covered with paintings, but not any famous ones, just paintings of animals and landscapes. The coffee table was littered with old coffee mugs, newspapers and a couple of books which seemed to be of Muggle origin. The only thing that looked remotely interesting in the room was a big, black cupboard, standing behind the sofas. It appeared to be locked, and Tom sensed a magical ward over it as well.

"You have a great view from here," Granger commented politely, looking out of the big windows, before sitting down on a sofa. Tom followed her view, but didn't agree with her. It was just open fields and a forest in the distance. What was great about that?

"Thank you," Gabriel said, sitting down next to her. "I've been living here for ten years now. It's peaceful."

"I thought you said you wanted to have fun," Tom remarked, sitting down on the empty sofa. This one too was littered, but with clothes instead. A pair of knickers had fallen down, onto the floor.

"Yes, but I create my own fun, and I like to do it in a peaceful environment," Gabriel said, smiling broadly.

"Where did you live before this?" Granger asked, appearing curious.

"Norway, and before that, I lived in the UK. But a certain someone started a war, so I decided to move on," Gabriel said, giving Tom a pointed look.

So he had been in the UK in the seventies, Tom mused. "How old are you, then?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I've passed a hundred, but really, you stop counting after a while. Haven't you?"

"Not yet."

"Well, you probably will, if you keep it up. What's another decade?"

Granger looked amazed at that, and Tom felt a sting of hatred towards the other man. Why was Granger so fascinated by him? She had known him for weeks now, surely he had shown her enough for her to not so easily be impressed?

Then again, Granger never seemed to appreciate him properly.

"Where were you born?" she asked.

"Iceland," Gabriel replied. "But enough about me, I still haven't heard what the two of you are doing together. I'm sure that's an interesting tale."

"Hermione and I have an agreement," Tom said, before Granger had a chance to answer. "She wishes to learn some things, and she helps me out until she is done."

"What sort of things?"

"Useful things."

Gabriel chuckled. "I've heard you are secretive, Tom. Very well, I won't pry. But I think I know why you are here. Or actually, Hans told me to expect you. He didn't know who you were, though, that was a pleasant surprise."

"Yes. Hans told me enough about you to make me curious," Tom admitted. "You seem to have a lot of influence over the Order or Katla."

"You want to arrange a deal," Gabriel concluded. "You are looking for new followers, and you don't want competition. Well, they aren't my followers, so they can do whatever they please. I'm just a … consultant of sort."

"Their dragon trainer."

Gabriel smiled and nodded. "It has been too long since we had any dragon warriors in the world. I thought it would be entertaining."

"Yes, very entertaining. Especially since such a force would be able to overthrow any government," Tom remarked.

Gabriel laughed. "Why on earth would I want to overthrow a government? I have no wish to rule. It's too much work. But then, I guess you don't agree with me."

"Will you try and stop me?" Tom asked, ignoring the jab.

Gabriel shrugged. "What for? The Order of Katla will do what they want to do, or rather, whatever you convince them they want to do."

Tom studied him with suspicion. No one who was this powerful could possibly lack ambitions. 'Fun' was not an ambition. However, whatever Gabriel had planned, he didn't seem to think Tom would come in the way of that. Or he did, and was trying to get Tom to lower his guard so he could stab him in the back.

"I do, however, find it curious that you would want to learn things from him," Gabriel continued, turning to Granger. "Is he blackmailing you?"

Granger snorted. "No. We just have a common goal and have agreed to help each other achieve it. Then we'll go our separate ways."

"I wonder what that could be," Gabriel said softly, and looked from Granger to Tom and then back to Granger. "Could it possibly have something to do with the wand you have, Tom?"

Tom looked down at the wand in his lap, trying to figure out why Gabriel would ask that. He had got the wand from Slytherin, who had said it was a family heirloom. What did Gabriel know about it?

"Not at all," Tom said. "I needed a new wand after my 'defeat'. This wand responded to me."

"Did it really?" Gabriel stared at Tom, intensely. "I take it you are well aware of the history of that wand?"

"Of course," Tom said.

"But yes, of course you would. The heir of Salazar Slytherin," Gabriel mumbled. "You must have found it with his things. I heard Slytherin had some secret chambers at Hogwarts."

Tom didn't respond. A lot of people had known that he was Slytherin's heir and that the Chamber existed. But not even Tom had known that there was some heirloom wand in the family, despite having read everything he could find about his ancestor. So how could Gabriel know that the wand was connected to Slytherin?

"What's special about Tom's wand?" Hermione asked, much to Tom's happiness. She wouldn't be expected to know, but Tom could listen to the answer.

Gabriel glanced at Tom, but when he didn't say anything, Gabriel turned to Hermione. "I have always found the old Norse myths interesting. I guess you get that from growing up in Iceland. There are runes there that the Muggles haven't found. Runes describing the magic of the Norse gods. I recognised the runes on the handle, from those stones. They're the runes of Loki, the god of mischief."

Granger's eyes widened. "You mean Tom's wand belonged to Loki?"

"It was created by him, yes. But he made many wands, so it's impossible to say if that wand actually belonged to Loki. It could have been a gift to someone else who then used it," Gabriel said.

"Slytherin was related to the Norse gods," Tom informed Granger, even though she already knew that. He didn't want Gabriel to know that this was old information to her. Only the information about the creator of the wand was new. What had Slytherin wanted to achieve by giving Tom Loki's wand?

"Yes, which brings me to the reason why I actually wanted you to stay and talk," Gabriel said, suddenly sounding much more serious. "I've searched for that wand for a very long time. I wish to study it."

Tom controlled the urge to tighten his grip on the wand. "What for?"

"Loki's wand-making techniques were unique. They are supposed to contain elements of things that no longer exist. I would like to study it and try to copy the technique," Gabriel said.

Tom instantly realised two things. The first was that the wand he was holding must not only be unique, but powerful in some way. The other was that Gabriel couldn't take it without his consent. Gabriel had had Tom's wand in his hand, and he had recognised it. Since he hadn't stolen it there and then, it must mean that there was something preventing him from it. Perhaps an heirloom spell, he knew those had been frequently used up until some centuries ago. It wouldn't have surprised him if Slytherin had put heirloom spells on the wand. He had put it on the Chambers of Secrets after all.

However, Tom also scolded himself for not inspecting his new wand closely. He had just been happy that the wand worked so well for him, and had then been focused on breaking Slytherin's bond. It hadn't occurred to him to take a closer look at the wand.

"And you expect me to do this out of the goodness of my heart?" Tom inquired, amused.

Gabriel chuckled. "It was worth a try, but no, I didn't expect that. But I know a lot of things that you would find interesting. The Norse gods have been a research project of mine since I was a child. I'm sure there are things I could tell you which you would find interesting."

"I'm sure I already know everything I need to know," Tom dismissed him. Granger was researching that, he didn't need someone else to do it.

"If you did, you would have been able to block me, Tom," Gabriel said softly.

Tom regarded Gabriel coldly. He hadn't expected Gabriel to offer that. "You are willing to risk your life to study a wand?"

"I'm not risking my life," Gabriel said confidently. "I'm sure that if we spend some time together, you'll come around the idea of wanting to kill me."

Tom scoffed. "Said one Dark Wizard to the other."

Gabriel laughed. "Yes, our kind is not known for our mercy. But I'm confident you won't kill me."

Tom studied him, but Gabriel's face was annoyingly unreadable. Tom was always able to sense whether someone was lying to him or not, but either Gabriel was completely honest or he was talented at hiding his lies.

What lies could he possibly hide? Was he just waiting until Tom granted him access to the wand, to kill him? Or – Tom felt a thrill go through him – was Gabriel certain he couldn't get killed because he was immortal?

In Tom's own search for immortality, he had often come across tales of wizards who had achieved immortality. But once they did, it was as if every trace of them disappeared. For a long time, Tom had thought that they were just lies to make wizards seem more powerful than they were. He had thought that he alone had gone further down the road to immortality than anyone else.

Then he had died.

It still pained him greatly to admit that, but he had. It was only sheer luck due to which he was sitting here today. It had all been Slytherin's doing.

Thus, Tom had started to consider that maybe the secret to gaining immortality was disappearing once you did. If you took a new identity and "disappeared" now and again, no one would suspect you were immortal and try to find a way to kill you.

Gabriel seemed to be doing that. Moving around from country to country, not gaining fame for himself… it was possible that Gabriel had achieved immortality and was baiting Tom with it.

Tom finally pulled out the wand and looked at it. If Gabriel was offering him immortality, it meant that this wand was very special indeed. Tom couldn't just hand it over.

"I could let you study the wand," Tom said slowly. "But I will be the one to handle the wand. You tell me the tests and analysis you wish to do, and I can do it."

To his great pleasure, he saw a flash of annoyance cross Gabriel's face. It was gone in the split of a second, but it told Tom enough. This wand was  _very_ important for Gabriel.

"I guess that will be reasonable," Gabriel said, much to Tom's surprise. He had thought that Gabriel would try to bargain further.

"However," Gabriel continued. "Then I'd also like to have her for myself, every now and then."

"What?" Granger exclaimed, staring at Gabriel in horror. "And what exactly would you have me do?"

Gabriel, however, ignored her, and just watched Tom with a smile.

"Define 'now and then'," Tom asked, also ignoring Granger.

However, as he had expected, Granger flew up. "I'm not yours to sell, Riddle! We have a deal."

"Just for the nights," Gabriel said, with a shrug. "Not when you have use for her, I'm sure."

Granger slashed her wand at him, but he saw it and deflected it. Tom hit her with a body-binding spell, making her fall back onto the sofa.

"That's agreeable. But if I do need her one night, I'll deliver her to you when I'm done, and you can keep her for longer in the morning instead. And I will not be held accountable for whatever unpleasant surprises she tries to pull on you."

"A wand oath, then?"

"You promise to tell me everything you know that I can find useful and we'll study the wand together, and you can have Hermione Granger for the nights," Tom summarised, holding out his wand.

Gabriel nodded and held out his wand, letting the tip of it touch Tom's. The air fizzed with magical energy, showing them that the oath had been put into place. Wand oaths were hard to break, but not impossible, which was why Tom had agreed to take one. They were also quite flexible and as long as both wizards felt like the agreement was being followed, no harm would come to any of them.

Riddle released the spell over Granger and waited for her attempt to cause him severe pain. To his surprise, Gabriel turned to her before she had the chance to pick up her wand, which had fallen to the floor when she was bound.

"Now, before you start hexing us, please here me out," he said. "I'm not going to rape you or anything like that."

Granger eyed him, suspiciously. "Then what exactly did you have in mind when you said you wanted me to stay with you at night?"

"You'll find out. But it's not anything you will find unpleasant or painful, that I swear," Gabriel said, sounding very sincere.

"But I haven't agreed to this," Granger pointed out. "I can just leave now and— "

"No, I'm the one that is going to make you stay with him," Tom said sweetly. "That was the oath."

She turned to Tom, looking appalled. "And you just agreed to that, without knowing what he intended to do with me?"

"Well, since he is only allowed to have you for a certain amount of time, he won't be able to kill you. And as long as he doesn't kill you, I have no problem with whatever he wants to do to you."

"This was not our agreement," Granger hissed.

"You should have been more specific, Granger," Tom said softly. "You said you would do  _anything_  if I took you with me. Well, consider this anything."

"I didn't—" She paused, then she paled.

"But you had to take me with you," she continued quickly. "You don't know how to do what needs to be done, and you don't want to do it. So if you want it done, you have to make sure I'm able to do it. How will I be able to train if I'm with him?"

"You have all day for that," Tom said calmly. "And I believe Gabriel just swore not to hurt you, which means you will still be able to train."

Granger was looking at him like she wasn't sure if she should hex him or beg him. After a moment, she decided to get up.

"If that's the case, then I had better make sure I speed up my training," she spat, and stalked out of the room. A minute later, he heard the front door slam shut.

"Such a lovely woman," Gabriel remarked, smiling.

"Wonderful."

"You are not lovers, I take?"

Tom just snorted.

"Sex would probably relax her more," Gabriel pointed out.

"But I'm quite sure it would not be good for my nerves," Tom replied with a smile, and then he turned serious again. "But I do not want her to come back hurt from you. If you feel like you need to cause damage that will last, I want you to consult me first."

"But if I can heal her before the night is over, we are fine?" Gabriel asked dryly.

Tom tilted his head. "You really did mean it, then."

Gabriel nodded. "However, I find it interesting that you would sell her off so readily and then come with demands once she has left. You don't want her to know you care about her welfare?"

"She wouldn't believe you if you told her," Tom said, with a smile. "But if you hope to use her as a means to blackmail me, you'll be disappointed. She is useful, but not irreplaceable."

"Yet, you strike me as a person who gets attached to his possessions," Gabriel observed.

"Oh, don't let her hear you say that, she will kill you in your sleep," Tom said, and then finally rose. "I have some other business to attend to. Granger will be busy studying for the rest of the day, but I trust she can stay here?"

Gabriel shrugged. "If she wants to."

Tom nodded. "She will come in again when she has cooled off. I'll return in time to take her out to dinner, and then I guess she will be yours for the night."

"I look forward to it."

Tom nodded. "We can talk about when we should schedule the other things tomorrow, when I come to pick her up."

"Very well."

Tom left the room and went to gather his shoes. This was the time to test Gabriel. Granger would be alone with him, and he would be able to judge him by his treatment of her. If she was dead when he came back, it would tell him just as much as if she was alive and happy.

He Disapparated. Now it was time to set up his own headquarters in Sweden.

xxx

Hermione fumed as she stood in the forest. How dare they? Well, okay, so she could expect that from Tom, but she was shocked at Gabriel. He had seemed so friendly at first. But then again, he was a man. Hermione was starting to see a pattern in all her encounters with men.

Men were pigs who were only thinking about one thing. Which they weren't even that good at!

Men. Bah. Humbug.

Well, the sooner she learned what she needed to do, the sooner she would be rid of all of them. Thus, she called out, summoning a snake to practice with. One appeared sooner than she had expected.

"Tongued one?" it asked.

Hermione we taken aback by the polite reply. So far, she had only heard snakes call Riddle by that name. Had she finally gained the respect of snakes? Riddle had said that it would come as soon as she took command for sure. Maybe her being pissed off actually helped?

"Hello," she said, then decided to test it. "Show me your young ones."

Riddle had told her that snakes never took anyone to see their eggs. He had told her to try to get one to take her, but so far she hadn't been successful.

Now, however, the snake turned around and started to slither toward her right. She followed it. She only had to travel a few yards into the forest until they came upon them. Hermione kneeled next to the snake, amazed at how easy it had been. So it really was just a display of authority that got snakes to do what you wished. Riddle had told her so, and she had thought she was doing it right, but something must have changed. Her anger must have changed something in her voice or the way she acted.

She thanked the snake and went back towards the edge of the forest. She should try to call some other snake and see if it worked again. Her success made her feel better. Maybe she could be through will all of this, sooner rather than later.

"Hermione?"

Her good mood disappeared at once, as she saw Gabriel make his way towards her, from the house. She stopped and turned to him, crossing her arms, but making sure her wand was visible in her hand.

"What?" she snapped.

"I do understand your anger," Gabriel said, quickly. "That's why I want to explain myself. My agreement with Tom doesn't come from any sinister intention for you. I won't lay a finger on you. But I need to test Tom."

She regarded him. "What for?"

"Tom Riddle is known for working alone, and yet, he brings you here with him," Gabriel said. "I have yet to figure out why, but I can see that you are very important to him. Thus, by not having access to you all the time, he loses something. I want that."

"That makes no sense whatsoever," Hermione commented.

Gabriel shrugged. "Not to you, no, but you are not a Dark Arts expert. I don't know what he will use you for, and I don't care, but by keeping you from him, it will take longer for him to achieve whatever it is he wants to achieve. And I want him to lose time."

"Why?"

"Because I do. Now, I don't mind if you tell him this, he has probably already figured it out and it will annoy him greatly not knowing what my plans are. But you have nothing to worry about coming to me tonight. We will just hang out. Or, if you prefer to be alone, you can do whatever you wish, and I'll just watch some TV. As long as you stay inside the house for the night, the agreement is being fulfilled," Gabriel said.

Hermione watched him doubtfully. "You watch TV?"

"Oh, yes, I love it. So many good shows. Oh, and the weather forecast. You just have to love those Muggles, trying to predict the future. It's so cute."

"You like Muggles?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Yes, they are great entertainment," Gabriel said happily.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Of course. Gabriel didn't hate Muggles, but he clearly didn't see them as equals any more than a lot of wizards did.

"I'll let you go back to your training," Gabriel said after a few seconds, when she hadn't said anything. "Oh, and Tom told me to tell you that he will pick you up for dinner later. But if you want to come in and eat something before that, feel free. Otherwise, we can talk more tonight."

Hermione nodded, unsure of how polite she had to be. On one hand, she didn't mind getting away from Riddle every night. It would probably decrease the amount of time she had to serve him. And the less she saw him, the less annoyed she would be, hence less likely to lash out, and thus, the fewer opportunities for him to torture her.

On the other hand, she wouldn't be able to stop Riddle from doing anything bad if she wasn't around. Then again, had she been able to, thus far? It wasn't as if he took her with him all the time. Those times she did get to follow him to his meetings seemed important, but she was sure Riddle wouldn't bring her if he thought she would hinder him in any way.

However, she was still unsure about why he had brought her here today. He couldn't possibly have known that Gabriel would want her as part of their agreement. Or had he? Had all this been a setup for him to get rid of her for some time, but still know someone was keeping an eye on her?

Dread filled her. What was he planning?

She glanced back at Gabriel's house again. Perhaps she could turn this to her advantage. If she could turn Gabriel against Tom, she would have a much greater chance of stopping him once the Serpent of Midgard was taken care of.

The more she considered it, the more she saw the benefits of the plan. It wasn't as if it would be hard to turn someone against Tom. He was a very unlikeable person. She just had to give Gabriel the right amount of motivation to actually do something about it, at the right time.

Finally, something was working to her advantage.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, new chapter for all my wonderful readers!
> 
> First and foremost, I want to thank Ozzy for taking the time to beta this story oh so faithfully. She is awesome. Then, I also want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, kudosed and bookmarked this story. It really makes me happy, and I could use all the happy I can get right now because of stupid health.
> 
> Enjoy!

 

**Chapter 12**

Riddle picked her up just after seven, and by that time, she was famished. He Apparated them to a small town and to her surprise, they went into a Muggle restaurant. It was only half-full, and at Tom's request, they were seated at the back, away from anyone else.

Without even looking at the menus, he ordered a moose stew and a bottle of wine for both of them.

"I never thought you would go to a Muggle restaurant," Hermione remarked, once the waiter had disappeared.

"The closest wizarding neighbourhood didn't have any good restaurants," Riddle said. "And I saw that they were serving moose here tonight. I like moose."

"But they are Muggles."

"So?"

"You hate Muggles," she said carefully. She didn't want this night to turn into a blood bath.

"I'm not allowed to like food made by them?" he asked.

"I just find it strange."

"And if Hermione Granger finds something strange, the rest of the world must rush to give her an explanation, or else she will pester them with questions all night long," Riddle said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Hermione sighed. "Fine, I don't care."

Riddle snorted. "I find that unlikely."

Hermione was about to respond, but the waiter came back with the wine. She poured it for Riddle first, who tasted it and then gave a nod. The waiter bowed and poured out more for both Tom and Hermione, before leaving the bottle at the table.

"How did the training go today?" Riddle asked.

"Excellent. I got it to show me its eggs."

"About time," Riddle said, taking another sip of his wine. "I'll find a Basilisk for you next. But it will have to be a young one, the older they are, the harder they are to control."

Hermione felt a shiver go down her spine. She remembered the last time she had met a Basilisk and it was not something she looked forward to again.

Riddle detected her shudder. "It won't work if you are scared of it. The first thing you have to do is order it not to kill you."

"And how to do I that?"

"Same way you got the snake to show you its eggs. You have to take control."

So she would just have to make sure she was pissed off again. Well, being with Riddle would probably take care of that.

The food arrived, and Riddle started to eat without another word. Hermione followed. She hadn't wanted to take Gabriel up on his offer of going into the house again. Even though she hoped she could use Gabriel, she would still be cautious around him.

"How long will you rent me out to Gabriel," Hermione asked, not having to fake her bitterness. However, she wanted to know how long she had, to convince Gabriel to help her.

"As long as it takes," Riddle said. "I've decided to live here for a while. There are a few things I want to do."

Hermione frowned. "What things?"

Riddle put down his fork and looked up at her. "Salazar was born around here. We are going to find out as much as we can about his background."

"We?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he is your ancestor too; I thought you would be interested."

"Yes, but — oh, you intend to have me do the work and then force me to tell you," Hermione spoke, as the realisation dawned on her.

Riddle smiled. "I do like that you catch on so quickly, Granger, it is one of your good qualities. And I'm sure your connection with Gabriel will help."

"That's why you sold me? So I can convince Gabriel to tell me what he knows? I'm assuming you want to know more about the Norse gods."

"Obviously. Do whatever it takes to make him talk," Riddle ordered, and picked up his fork again.

Hermione regarded him, weighing her options. "Gabriel said he wanted to take me away from you so your plans for me will take longer to achieve."

"Did he now? Well, that's nice of you to tell me. Don't tell him that he is in fact helping me by taking you in," Riddle said, focusing on his stew.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "How will you know if I tell him?"

"Because you'll come back in the morning looking pleased and guilty at the same time," Riddle remarked. "Acting is not one of your abilities."

Hermione resumed eating as well, while watching him. What was he planning?

"When do you think you'll get a hold of a Basilisk, then?" Hermione asked.

"I have no idea, they are hard to come by. I may have to breed one myself, but that will take a few months."

"Months?" Hermione asked, shocked. "Why haven't you started already, then? You knew I would need one."

"Because I have more important things to do."

"The possibility of the world as we know it coming to an end doesn't seem important to you?"

"Important, yes, but not as urgent," Riddle said calmly. "Don't worry, this will give you time to train more with the snakes. Just because you succeeded once it doesn't mean you are a professional. You should try to control more of them at the same time."

Hermione didn't know what to say, so she continued to eat the stew. Once they were both finished, Riddle paid and they left the restaurant.

"You don't seem nervous at all at the prospect of spending the night with Gabriel," Riddle remarked, when they were out on the street again.

"No, he said he wouldn't hurt me," Hermione answered.

Riddle shrugged. "It will be interesting to see if he will. But I think it would be for the best if you stayed on his good side. Especially since that will no doubt make him talkative."

"I will do my best," Hermione said with a sigh. "Do I go now or later?"

"We may as well go now; I have no further use of you for the moment. Although, it's not technically night yet, since the sun is up for so long at this time of the year. Perhaps we should clarify what 'night' means. I doubt he thinks I'll come and pick you up at five o'clock tomorrow morning when the sun rises…"

"So is that a yes?" Hermione asked dryly, once Riddle finally stopped, looking thoughtful.

Riddle looked down at her and huffed. "Yes. Let's go."

They Apparated right outside the wards of the farm. Riddle walked swiftly up the driveway and Hermione followed.

"Here you are," Riddle said, when Gabriel opened the door. "Enjoy your night, and I'll pick her up in the morning, around nine."

Gabriel nodded. Hermione noted that he had changed his clothes again. This time, he was wearing blue-and-red-splattered bathing trunks. Only bathing trunks. His chest was tanned and just as hairless as his legs. Hermione wouldn't have been surprised if he were off to shoot a commercial for swimwear.

Riddle, however, remained impassive, and just turned around and left. Once he was out of view, Gabriel asked her inside.

"I was just going down to the lake to take a bath. The water is lovely at this time of the year. Do you want to come?" he asked.

Hermione hesitated. She did like bathing, but she rarely had a chance to do it. However, she wasn't sure if she wanted him to see her half-naked. He was very good-looking and she was average at most.

Then she scowled at herself. She wasn't here to compare looks. She wanted his help, and to do that, she had to spend time with him.

"Sure, I'll just change, I think I have a bikini in my purse," she said.

He showed her to the bathroom and five minutes later, she came out, dressed in her monochrome green bikini, with a towel wrapped around her.

"Let's go then, once the sun sets, the mosquitoes will be a horror," he told her.

The lake, it turned out, was just down the road from his house. There was no actual beach to speak of, just a clearing in the forest. The lake was covered with trees on all sides, disappearing from view to her far right.

Gabriel threw his towel on the grass and walked out into the water, diving under when he was about a yard out. Hermione carefully followed. To her happiness, the water was warm, and she dived into it as well.

She swam back and forth for a few yards, just enjoying the water. The only other sound came from Gabriel moving in the water, otherwise it was quiet. Peaceful. Hermione took a deep breath. This was probably the first time she had ever been in a peaceful environment since the war started. Even though it had been quiet at Hogwarts after the war was over, it hadn't been peaceful, and that was not just Riddle's doing. War changed a place.

After about fifteen minutes, she saw Gabriel move ashore, wrap his towel around himself and sit down. She watched as he turned his face towards the sun and closed his eyes, smiling softly. It surprised her, in a way. She could never picture Riddle or any Dark Wizard she knew about doing something as mundane as enjoying the sun. Gabriel was a very strange man indeed.

Swimming back to the shore again, she got out and sat down next to him. It was a bit chilly, so she wrapped her towel around herself as well.

"I do enjoy the summers here," Gabriel said, after they had been sitting in silence for a while. "Long days, warm nights and almost no people."

"Yes, I'm surprised there aren't more people in the lake," Hermione commented. "It's a beautiful evening."

"There aren't many people living out here," Gabriel said. "And there are plenty of lakes to go around. I try to come out here every evening during the summers."

"I can imagine. But don't you have to work?"

"Not unless I want to," Gabriel answered, leaning back.

"What do you do, then? I mean, when you are not making deals with Riddle or training dragons."

Gabriel smiled. "At the moment? Nothing."

"You are rich, then," she concluded.

"Very much."

"By illegal means, like dragon training?" she asked, not bothering to hide the disapproval in her voice.

He chuckled. "Both. But I think doing illegal things is to be expected by someone who makes a deal with the former Lord Voldemort. We should go back to the house."

"Did you ever support Voldemort when he was in power?" Hermione asked, rising as he did.

"Nope," Gabriel replied, starting to walk up the path from the lake.

"How come?" Even though he clearly wasn't very informative, she didn't get the feeling he wanted to drop the subject.

"Well, there are two types of Dark wizards. Those who are in it for the power, and those who are in it for the knowledge. I'm not interested in the power aspect. Well, to a certain degree, of course, but not in the same way as Tom."

"But the Dark Arts corrupt," Granger pointed out. Every textbook she had read wrote that, and she had seen enough Dark wizards to support the claim.

"So?"

"So it would be impossible to be in it just for the knowledge, the power is too seducing."

"You are a Dark Arts expert then?" he asked with a smile.

"No, but I know enough."

"Well, I think we have to redefine power," Gabriel stated. "Knowledge is a type of power, and yes, that is very seducing. Magical power is also power, and it's seducing too. But having power over other people and being a powerful person politically, that is another type of power which I don't find seducing. Some Dark wizards do, however, but they are the types that die fast. Or well, die often, as is the case with Tom."

They reached the house and Gabriel opened the door for her.

"Do you want a glass of wine? I have a glassed-in balcony upstairs. It's nice to sit up there and talk."

"Well, I would rather have something without alcohol," Hermione said. The wine she had drunk at the restaurant was all she needed for a nice buzz, anymore and she would lose sight of what she was supposed to do.

"Tea or soda?"

"Soda will be fine."

Gabriel made a quick detour to the kitchen and came back out with two glasses, nodding at her to indicate that she follow him upstairs. They walked through what must be the master bedroom and out onto the balcony. The sun had just disappeared, leaving the sky red and orange.

Hermione sat down in a garden chair with green, flower-patterned cushions. She then used her wand to dry both herself and the towel that she was still wrapped in, before accepting the drink.

Gabriel sat down on the garden sofa, spreading out. "Tell me if you feel cold. I have simple enchantments on this room that just need to be activated."

"I will," she promised.

"How long have you been together with Tom, then?" Gabriel asked and took a sip of his drink.

"We are not together!" she exclaimed, the mere thought making her shudder.

He laughed. "I didn't mean romantically, just … travelling together."

"Oh. Just for a few weeks."

"How long have you known who he was?"

"Longer," Hermione said, but didn't want to go too deep into the subject. Not yet, at least. She still had to find out where she and Gabriel stood.

Gabriel, however, didn't seem to have any problems with continuing to question her. "What does he teach you?"

"That's between the two of us," Hermione said, a hint of warning in her tone.

Gabriel smiled. "I'm just wondering if I can help. You are clever and powerful from what I can tell. You could become a very powerful Dark Arts—"

"I'm not learning the Dark Arts," Hermione interrupted him coldly.

Gabriel looked very surprised. "Then what do you need Tom Riddle for? I know he is talented in many areas, but you could easily find less dangerous experts for any other subject he may know."

"Well, turns out he knows some other things that no one else can teach me," Hermione responded. "But I would rather not talk about him tonight. Can't we talk about something else?"

He shrugged. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

Hermione hesitated, before making up her mind to get straight to one of her missions. "You were talking about the Norse gods earlier. I'd like to hear more about those."

"Really? Why?"

"My grandmother used to read stories about them to me when I was younger. I'd like to hear more about how they really were. My grandmother only knew the Muggle myths, and I'm sure her versions were altered for children," Hermione said, with a smile.

"Most likely. Grandmothers usually don't want their grandchildren hearing about violence and decadence," he commented. "What do you want to hear about? Some special person?"

Hermione hesitated. She would have liked to ask about Loki at once, but that might have seemed a bit transparent, like Tom had asked her to inquire about it. "I'd like to know more about the goddesses. Or, witches, I guess they were. There is always so much focus on the men."

"Well, there were a lot of witches on Asgard. Oh, did you know that Asgard was on an island?"

Hermione nodded.

"It was actually a woman who found it first, Ran, her name was. She was a sailor and lived off the ocean. She would only allow women on her ship, which could hold up to nine other sailors. The myths say they are her daughters, but as far as I know, they were just her crewmembers. Ran and most of her crewmembers came from a small village in what's now called Norway. They sailed around the known lands, but it's said that one day, during a storm, they drifted far away from their course. Once the storm had passed, they found themselves on a beautiful island.

"Some of the crew decided that they wanted to move their base of operations to that island, and so they did. However, once they had settled down, they discovered that the island was inhabited by giants."

Gabriel dramatically paused. "By then, Ran had decided that the island would make a great home. It was good for farming, had lots of fruits and the weather was pleasant. Thus, she called her old village for help. Odin and some others responded and came to help. A war between the wizards and giants started.

"Together with Odin, Ran managed to drive the giants away, but every night, the giants would try to take their island back. This went on for months. By then, Odin had also seen the benefits of the island. He had started having trouble with Muggles at home, and so, he decided to move the rest of his people over to the island, where Muggles wouldn't be able to reach them. He was a chief of sorts, you see, and his people were spread out, in many villages. But before he could bring them over safely, he needed to make peace with the giants.

"He offered the leader of the group of giants a treaty. The king of the giants, Ägir, said that he would only give up the claim to the island if he could have Ran for his wife. Odin then went to Ran, to talk her into marrying the giant. Ran, who was quite greedy, said that she would only agree to it if she would be declared a goddess over the seas. Every sailor who wished to sail across them had to pay a fee of gold.

"Odin said he couldn't promise that every sailor would do it, but he agreed to give her a healthy sum of gold, and thus Ran left with Ägir. However, before she left, she cast a curse over the sea around Asgard, declaring that whoever failed to pay the fee would be buried at sea."

Hermione blinked. "How can someone cast a curse over the seas?"

"The wizards of Asgard used magic quite different from us. More like the druids, if you remember them from history class. A lot is forgotten, but we do know that they were more in tune with the magic of nature and could wield it in ways other than what we can today."

"What happened then? Did Odin invite more people to Asgard?"

"He didn't have to. Once the rumour started to spread, a lot of wizards and witches from all around the North started to come. Some only visited, but some brought their families and friends. They wanted to get away from the Muggles and Odin had managed to hide the island from Muggles. But you wanted to hear more about the witches."

Hermione nodded.

Gabriel sat in silence for a few seconds, looking thoughtful. "Well, a few years after Odin had got the island, a prophet came with an urgent matter. Her name was Frigg. She had witnessed a terrible disaster happen to her people and begged for Odin's help. He joined her to visit what's now called Germany. A group of wizards wanted Frigg for her powers. They thought that drinking her blood would make them prophets as well. They had kidnapped everyone in her family in an attempt to draw her out and make her come to them willingly.

"Because of her prophecy, she and Odin managed to intercept them and save her family. But just as they were on their way out, into the sea, the wizards casted a hex after them. It struck Odin, giving him a mortal wound. Frigg saved his life on that boat, and once they returned to Asgard, he asked her to be his wife. That was probably the wisest decision Odin ever made. Without Frigg, Asgard would have gone under much quicker."

"How?" Hermione asked.

"Odin was reckless and hot-tempered. Only Frigg could calm him down and be diplomatic. She was the one that resolved most issues that arose in Asgard. Thanks to her powers, she was also able to avert many big disasters."

"I thought Odin could see into the future," Hermione said, recalling what her grandmother had told her about Odin.

"Yes, but only after he had performed a blood ritual with Frigg, which shared their powers," Gabriel explained. "The child they got after that ritual became very powerful. Balder, his name was. Their youngest son. Or well, the youngest son they both had together, Odin had several other children with other women, but Balder was the apple of his eye, so to speak."

"How many more children did he have?" Hermione asked.

Gabriel chuckled. "No one really knows. There is a reason why he was called the Allfather. But I think his most famous child, beside Balder, was Thor, his eldest son."

"You seem to know a lot about all of this. Where have you found your sources?" Hermione asked, curious and a bit sceptical of what he told her, and whether was really the truth, or just good storytelling.

"A lifetime of research has given me a lot of different sources, which is what I've agreed to show Tom. But I think that is enough history for one night."

Hermione realised it was already pitch black outside. While they were talking, lamps had started lighting up around them, so she hadn't noticed.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"A bit after eleven. Are you tired?"

"Not really."

"I have the guest room prepared for you, so just let me know when you are. I often lose track of time when I'm engaged in something interesting and I forget to sleep and eat," Gabriel said, with a flirtatious smile.

Against her will, she felt a blush creeping up, and was glad it was so dark outside that he wouldn't notice. She wondered if now would be a good time to take him up on his suggestion. Or was he just pretending to be interested to get her into bed? Hm. Perhaps she had to sleep with him to find out if he was just interested in a one night thing, or if she could count on him.

Her blush deepened when she realised just how appealing that "test" sounded to her. Maybe she was a bit too taken by his handsomeness to make a good decision right now. Yes, it was better to wait.

"So … what sorts of books do you like to read?" she asked, realising she had been quiet for a bit too long.

Gabriel smiled knowingly, but didn't comment on her blush or on how she wouldn't meet his eyes. For a Dark wizard he surely was the most gentlemanly she had met.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, new chapter, and please note that I refrained myself from posting this chapter (13) on Friday (13th). Miya is not tempting the gods of luck again.
> 
> Great thanks to Ozzy for betaing this story and chapter. Also wish to thank you all who took the time to read, review, kudos and bookmark. I really appreciate it!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 13**

 

Tom was getting frustrated. He had been in Sweden for two weeks, and still hadn’t learned anything useful. None of his contacts had paid off and Granger was annoyingly happy at the prospect of having to go to Gabriel each night. The only thing that was going somewhere was the Basilisk egg he had acquired. It would hatch within the month, and then Granger would be one step closer to controlling the Serpent of Midgard.

 

All in all, things seemed to be going much better for Granger than for him, and he didn’t like it one bit. The only reason why he let her go back there was to get information out of Gabriel. He knew surprisingly much about the Æsir and where you could find traces of them. Thus far, Tom had visited them all, but only one had stood out: the burial mounds of Uppsala. Alas, all the pieces weren’t quite ready for that particular gem just yet.

 

“Good morning, Tom,” Gabriel called, when he came down the lane towards the house.

 

Gabriel was standing next to the younger, turquoise dragon, feeding it. In just two weeks, it had grown to twice its size and was now longer than Tom.

 

“Morning,” Tom greeted, when he came up to them. “Is Hermione up?”

 

“Not yet, we were up till quite late last night,” Gabriel said, looking pleased.

 

Tom studied him, but no, it didn’t appear as if they had fucked yet. Tom was running a small wager with himself as to when that would happen. Granger seemed more and more eager every time he saw her. It annoyed him as well. He hadn’t had sex since they had left Hogwarts, why should she?

 

“So, will today be the day we start with our lessons?” Gabriel continued, still looking disgustingly chipper.

 

“Yes, it will,” Tom said. Over the past two weeks, Tom had been busy finding out as much as he could about Gabriel. A lot had been discovered, but nothing about what type of magic he used. Tom had hoped he could have been able to kill Gabriel by now, but it seemed the man did have knowledge worth learning.

 

“Good! And our agreement still stands, I teach you things one day, we study the wand the next day?” Gabriel asked.

 

Tom nodded. “I do stand by my promises.”

 

“Oh, I have no doubt that you do.” Gabriel patted the eating dragon on the neck and then stepped out of the pen. “Let’s hear it, then. What do you want to learn first?”

 

“I want to know where you learned the magic you demonstrated when we first met and how it works,” Tom said.

 

“Straight to the point. Well, come with me, then.”

 

They walked up to the house and into the living room. Gabriel led him to the cupboard Tom had noticed on his first visit. It was locked, but Gabriel pulled out a key from his pocket. With an added wave of his wand, he opened it.

 

The doors reached to the ceiling, and once it was open, Tom saw that it was much more than a cupboard. For starters, it was bigger on the inside. A path led into the cupboard for as far as he could see. On either side of the path, there were shelves with various books and objects placed on them. Before Tom had time to study the first row closely, though, Gabriel summoned a scroll and closed the cupboard again, locking it tightly.

 

“Here we are, why don’t you look at this first?” He handed the scroll to Tom.

 

It was sealed inside a container, which was covered with symbols.

 

“Sumerian,” Tom mumbled to himself. He recognised several of the symbols as those of warnings. The scroll contained forbidden magic, as the Dark Arts had been called. Well, that was promising at least.

 

He opened the container and carefully searched the inside with his magical senses, just to make sure that it wasn’t dangerous. When he couldn’t detect any, he withdrew the scroll and placed it on the coffee table.

 

“This isn’t Sumerian,” Tom noticed.

 

“Nope,” Gabriel responded.

 

Tom studied the symbols, trying to remember if he had ever seen them before. They looked like a mixture of Sumerian and something else, but it didn’t make sense. Then he sensed a small flare in the top right corner. Magic was there, waiting to be activated.

 

Ah, so there was a ward over the scroll. But what did he need to do to activate it? He closed his eyes and focused on the magic he could sense, analysing it with his magical senses. It wanted more magic. Clever. That way, the ward would always be fed and couldn’t die. Well, at least not if people kept wanting to read the scroll.

 

Tom hesitated. He didn’t like giving his magic to an unknown source. You never knew what it would do with it.

 

“Could you bring Granger?” Tom asked Gabriel.

 

Gabriel seemed disappointed. “Very well.”

 

A couple of minutes later, he came back with Granger. She was yawning, and appeared to be annoyed that he had woken her.

 

“What?” she asked, snappish.

 

“You are going to feed this scroll some magic,” Tom told her. “Come here and I’ll show you how.”

 

“Why on earth would I feed a scroll anything?” Granger asked sharply.

 

Tom looked at her, coldly, reminding her of who she was talking too.

 

“Right,” she muttered, and went over to him.

 

He showed her what to do, and she placed her fingertips on the top right corner. Electric sparks started to dance around her hand and Granger winced in displeasure. The sparks shifted colour from yellow to red to blue and then started to jump down the page. As they did, the symbols on the scroll started to change. It became readable.

 

Not only readable, it turned into English. The spell must translate according to whoever feed it magic. Tom was impressed. He had only heard of such spells, but never attempted them himself. Why would he want to make things understandable for others?

 

The sparks disappeared and Granger withdrew her hand. She looked rather pale and when she tried to move away, she wobbled a bit. Gabriel took her arm and steadied her.

 

“Yes, it’s quite unpleasant,” he comforted her. “Come, we’ll get some coffee while Tom works.”

 

Ignoring them, Tom focused on the text. It was instructing about magic of a different kind. It was not the Dark Arts per se, but explained about a different power source. A wizard’s magic was a physical trait, like anything else you could do with your body. Wizards grew tired of using it and could overtax themselves. Everyone had a different strength, and was powerful in different ways. Some people would always be better at healing, while others had their strength in transfiguration.

 

But this method explained about how you could extract more power from nature around you and amplify your magic through nature. While not dangerous in itself, Tom could immediately see why this method had been deemed forbidden. With this method, one could become more powerful than imaginable. With this method, he could control the world. Literally. The earth itself would work for him. He could draw power from all the natural strengths, like storms and earthquakes, the sun and volcanos. The method showed how to channel and transform that power into anything he wished.

 

In a fight, it would have a direct impact; your strikes would be more powerful. But it could also be used in a more subtle way. If he wanted to transform something big, or create a powerful curse, or even conjure up something impossible, this method would help. It would make everything he could think about possible.

 

All of a sudden, Tom understood how Loki had managed to create something as massive and powerful as the Serpent of Midgard. It had bugged him, since Granger told him about the experimentations. It shouldn’t be possible, not the hugeness nor that it could continue to live after all these years. Tom also started to wonder if the werewolf curse had been created with this. Everyone thought that werewolves were the cause of a sickness which was spread through blood, like a parasite or something. Curses shouldn’t be able to infect so many people, and not over such a long period, as werewolves had existed. But despite attempts to find it, no parasite, virus or bacteria had been found. All anyone had ever been able to say was that it appeared to be magical.

 

Tom continued to read. The method was difficult to understand. Somehow, he had to “reach” into the energy and pull the power into him and transform it into what he wanted it to do. Several warnings were written out. Taking in such power took great control and self-discipline. The power could consume and destroy someone who wasn’t careful. It could also disturb nature, but Tom didn’t care too much about that. He was more interested in the “reaching” part.

 

He rose and opened a window with his wand. A soft breeze found its way into the room. Tom took a deep breath and concentrated. According to the text, everything that was in motion contained energy that could be used. All he had to do was reach out and take it.

 

He used his magic to sense the wind, but there was nothing magical about it. Though, all energy wasn’t magical. Perhaps, if he transformed it?

 

Slowly, he reached out for the energy and forced it to move in his direction. He held up his left hand, and felt it enter into it. Once it did, he transformed it. It was more a feeling than a theoretical concept. Just as anger could make him more powerful, he felt that this energy could make him stronger.

 

With his right hand, he slashed his wand, putting very little of his own strength behind it, but all of the harvested energy.

 

The power lead to a small explosion, which threw him back against the wall behind him. He managed to put up a shield, cushioning the impact, and landed safely on his feet.

 

The window and part of the wall in front of him had been blown away.

 

“Huh,” he said, evaluating the damage he had done with so little. Imagine the destruction if he had been channelling a tornado?

 

Granger and Gabriel rushed in from the other room. Granger appeared shocked by the destruction, but Gabriel just shrugged and took out his wand, repairing the window and the wall.

 

“You are a fast study,” he remarked.

 

Tom didn’t acknowledge him. His mind was in overdrive. Energy. People were filled with energy. Wizards and witches should be filled with even more.

 

Tilting his head, he searched for Gabriel with his magical sense and reached out to grab him. However, his senses came to a stop at an invisible wall.

 

Gabriel seemed surprised. “Very fast. But you won’t be able to do that. You can block it if you know what you are doing.”

 

Tom shrugged. He couldn’t say he was surprised. He doubted Gabriel would have shown Tom this if there weren’t a way for him to block Tom from doing the same thing he had done when they met.

 

Or had this been it? This was clearly one way you could harm a person without actually casting any magic on them. But Tom imagined it would make the person feel weak afterwards. He hadn’t felt weak from the torture, just pain.

 

“But this isn’t the kind of Dark Arts you used,” Tom commented softly.

 

“In a way, it is. You have to grasp the theory of this before you can understand what I did,” Gabriel answered.

 

“Well then, show me,” Tom ordered.

 

“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Gabriel said.

 

“Why not?”

 

“You will understand in a moment.”

 

Tom was about to ask what he meant, but he also stepped closer to him. As he did, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He had to grab the back of the sofa so he wouldn’t fall over.

 

“You see, this method takes some getting used to,” Gabriel explained, coming up to him, easily pushing him back down onto the sofa. “I don’t advise you to use it in a fight just yet.”

 

Tom glared at him, but didn’t say anything. He was feeling as if he was about to throw up.

 

“What is this method?” Granger asked, coming up next to them, peering down at the scroll.

 

Gabriel, however, closed the scroll. “Sorry, Hermione, you’ll have to know a lot more about the Dark Arts before you start messing around with this stuff.”

 

Tom ignored them again and focused on himself. He wanted to try one more thing, but he needed to get his body under control. He would be damned if his body would stop him from doing anything!

 

Opening his eyes again, he focused on Granger. Testing a new theory, he placed his hand on hers. She looked at him, confused, but right then, he reached into her.

 

Unlike Gabriel, she had no ward around her being and he easily found her magical energy and began tapping into it. It surprised him how much more pleasing it was than taking power from the wind. That had felt cold. This felt like he was holding a still-beating heart in his hand, warm and strong. He drank it in greedily.

 

Until Granger was suddenly ripped away from him.

 

Tom came back to reality, feeling high. He saw Gabriel rushing an unconscious-looking Granger to the other sofa and once there, he pressed his hand against her chest.

 

Tom smiled and closed his eyes, leaning back on the sofa. It felt like the most beautiful music ever was playing in his head. Every breath felt easy and soft, all tension had left his body, and he felt as if he was encased in a warm, cosy cocoon. Nothing worried him anymore.

 

“Hey!” Someone slapped him in the face. Hard.

 

Tom flew up, the beautiful music gone. He slashed his wand at Gabriel, sending him flying backwards, out through the newly repaired window.

 

He was about to follow, to continue to curse the man, when he heard Granger’s gasping breaths on the sofa. He turned towards her.

 

She was conscious, but pale as a sheet and glistening with sweat. She looked at him with terror in her eyes. Clearly, the procedure must have been uncomfortable for her.

 

“What did you do?” she asked, panting.

 

“An experiment,” he stated.

 

She looked as if she wanted to yell at him, but was clearly too weak for it. She sank back against the pillows, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Don’t do it again. Please.”

 

Very uncomfortable, Tom concluded. Otherwise she wouldn’t have said please.

 

In that moment, Gabriel flew through the window, looking furious. “You nearly killed her.”

 

“She is mine to do with what I wish,” Tom said, turning his attention back to the other man. “You wouldn’t let me experiment on you, so I had to turn to her.”

 

“You don’t have the control for that yet,” Gabriel spat. His eyes had turned almost black in anger, his whole face twisted with fury.

 

“You will find that I have a lot more control than you think.” Tom sent out another powerful strike, wishing to demonstrate.

 

Gabriel sidestepped it, and made a gesture with his hand. But this time, Tom was ready and could block Gabriel from taking control over his body. He still wasn’t sure how Gabriel did it, but at least now he knew enough to be able to block it. It didn’t take an outside shield, but a shield around your energy and body.

 

“You will also find that it’s very unwise to underestimate me,” Tom continued coldly, directing his energy to an object behind Gabriel.

 

Before the man had time to see it, Tom used a large board of wood, which had been splintered earlier, and rammed it into Gabriel’s back. Blood splashed out in front of him as the board pierced his body.

 

Hermione screamed, but before Tom could tell her to be quiet, Gabriel looked up. And smiled.

 

“Likewise,” Gabriel said, and grabbed the board and pulled it out of his body, like it was nothing more than pulling off a jacket. He looked down at the board which was covered in dark red blood. His eyes flashed yellow, and the board was incinerated in less than a second.

 

“Now then, if you are done trying to kill me,” Gabriel said calmly, “I didn’t teach you this so we could have a duel.”

 

“Then why are you teaching me?” Tom hissed, unpleased that his murder attempt had failed.

 

“Because you are giving me something in return,” he reminded him, his voice serious. “But for the time being, I think it would be better if you left and didn’t return until tomorrow. Hermione will stay. It’s not like she will be of any use to you today. Unless you do want to kill her?”

 

Tom looked down at Granger, who was staring at him, her eyes full of hatred and fear. “No, I think that will be enough for today.”

 

He smiled coldly at Gabriel, and spun around and left the house. Well, today had surely been interesting. And Gabriel no longer had the advantage over him. They had reached an impasse, for the time being. But Tom was certain that he would find a way to kill the insufferable man in due time. Now, he just had to find out what made Gabriel seemingly immortal.

 

xxx

 

“Here, drink this, it will make you feel better.” Gabriel helped her sit up and put a cup to her lips. It was hot, but as soon as she got it in her mouth, she could feel her strength returning.

Once the contents were gone, she could sit up by herself. “What did he do to me?”

 

“He drained your magical energy,” Gabriel answered with a sigh. “I should have suspected he would try something like that, but I honestly didn’t think he would try it so soon. Otherwise, I’d have warned you to block yourself.”

 

“Block myself?” She hated not knowing what on earth he was talking about.

 

“Yes, it’s a relatively simple shield you can use to stop such intrusion. But few people know how to do it. This magic is long forgotten, and so is the protection against it.”

 

“What magic?” This went against every textbook she had ever read. How could you take someone else’s magic?

 

“It was used some four thousand years ago by priests of Enlil to control the spirits of nature. Only, today we wouldn’t call it spirits, but energy,” Gabriel explained. “After the collapse of the Sumerian religion, these powers were deemed evil and locked away. But I found it again and studied it.”

 

“But why would you show Riddle something like that?” Hermione asked, horrified. “He already knows plenty of ways to hurt other people, he doesn’t need to know more!”

 

“We had a deal,” he reminded her.

 

Hermione felt a twist of disappointment in her chest. In these past two weeks, she had almost forgotten that she wasn’t there voluntarily. They had got along so well. But now she was reminded that he was in fact working with Riddle. Even though it didn’t make sense.

 

“But why did you even agree to help him in the first place? If you want his wand so much, why not just kill him and take it? It will transfer the ownership, and you already showed that you can hurt him! At least, you could before.”

 

“It’s not like a regular wand; it’s inherited, not transferred. If something were to happen to Tom, his descendants would get it, and as far as I know, he doesn’t have any. It would make the wand useless.”

 

Hermione frowned. “Why descendants? Couldn’t someone else inherit it?”

 

He shook his head. “No. As long as Tom is alive, he can allow others to use it. But it was engineered in such a way that it has to be passed on from parent to child, or grandchild if someone wanted to skip a generation or two. It’s a blood-thing.”

 

“Oh,” she said, disappointed. “But why do you need it so badly?”

 

“I have my reasons,” he said softly, moving closer to her on the sofa. “How are you feeling now?”

 

“Stronger,” she responded, but pulled away from him. “I don’t understand why you would teach him this, though. There must be plenty of things you know that he could have an interest in. Like all those stories of the Norse gods! Why didn’t you start with those?”

 

Gabriel sank back, his hands falling down into his lap. “Would you believe me if I said I have plans for Tom?”

 

She crossed her arms. “I’d have believed you had plans, but I’d also say you were foolish for trying to control him. Didn’t he just throw you out of a window and pierce your body with a board?”

 

He waved his hand, dismissively. “That was nothing. And Tom doesn’t know it, but he is playing straight into my hands.”

 

“What plans do you have then?” she demanded.

 

“I’d love to tell you, Hermione, but I can’t risk him finding out in advance,” he said with a crooked smile. “But enough talk about him. You have to rest. I’ll cook you something nice and we’ll watch telly. How does that sound?”

 

Hermione didn’t want to drop the subject, but it seemed like she would get nothing more from him right now. Thus, she nodded. She was bone-tired, like she was recovering from a fever or something. And she did like watching telly with Gabriel. He seemed to have every channel from around the globe, and there were always reruns of Doctor Who on one of them. She had loved that show when she was younger, and appreciated it as an adult too.

 

He helped her up to the second floor. The TV was in his bedroom, but instead of leading her to the sofa, he led her to the bed, pushing up the pillows for her to lie on.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly. They ate pizza and watched TV, mostly in silence.

It was beginning to darken outside when Hermione felt strong enough to ask what she should have asked days ago.

 

“I need you to teach me how to protect myself from him.”

 

Gabriel’s gaze slowly moved from the TV to her. He studied her for a moment, then he waved his hand, turning the TV off. The room became darker, but she could still see his eyes.

 

“I do like you, Hermione, but I don’t do things like that for free.”

 

She hesitated. “What do you want?”

 

“You don’t have much to offer.”

 

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, I do. I saved the world. I’m the brightest student Hogwarts has seen in almost a century. I have fought witches and wizards three times my age, since I was twelve years old and I’ve done it well. Just because I don’t have a fancy wand—”

 

He interrupted her by pressing a finger against her lips. When she made an attempt to bite him, he laughed and withdrew his hand.

 

“I was just checking to see whether this period with Tom had lowered your self-esteem and I’m glad to see it hasn’t.”

 

Hermione glared at him. “Well? What do you want in exchange?”

 

“I want your help with my plans for Tom,” he said with a smile. “But I can’t tell you what it would entail until you have learned to block yourself from Tom. He can’t know this.”

 

“So teach me, then.”

 

“I’ll need to have your oath to help me first.”

 

Hermione regarded him. “Will it kill him?”

 

“I can’t tell you that. Yet.”

 

She hesitated. She knew he was a Dark wizard, and who was to say that he wasn’t planning something even worse than Riddle was? Was she ridding herself of one devil just to get stuck with another? On the other hand, Gabriel had treated her much better than Riddle ever had and seemed a lot more reasonable. He didn’t want to rule the world or kill Muggles. And even if he did, that was not something he would want her help with.

 

Honestly, how on earth could Gabriel possibly be worse than Lord Voldemort?

 

She nodded and took out her wand. “I agree to help you with your plans to stop Tom Riddle.”

 

He watched her wand, amused. “Oh, I think we can seal the deal with something else.”

 

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but when she did, he leaned forward and kissed her, deeply. The moment of stunned surprise was quickly followed with submission. She had been kissed before, but Gabriel was truly talented. She hadn’t known what she was missing.

 

His tongue greedily searched her mouth. He tasted of tea and chocolate, which they had consumed earlier that night. She felt his hand at her neck, stroking her, sending shivers down her spine and straight to her core. Her hands moved up to his chest, as of their own accord, and under his shirt.

 

His belly and chest were hard with muscles, but smooth as silk to touch. She traced the outline of the muscles to his back, moving his shirt up until he had to break the kiss. She looked up just in time to see him pull off his shirt and throw it onto the floor. Their eyes met and the same hunger she felt was reflected in his. It was about time this happened. She had been horny ever since she had met him, but hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself. But now she couldn’t pretend anymore.

 

He helped her off with her shirt and then pulled her up and into his arms, kissing her again. Sitting up, she was able to straddle his lap, feeling his chest against hers. But her bra was an annoyance. She wanted to feel her breasts against his chest. So she removed it without breaking the kiss and pressed herself against him.

 

Her nipples were hard, and the heat from his chest made them throb with pleasure. She had very sensitive nipples, and the slightest stimulation made her—

 

As if he had read her mind, he grasped her left breast with his hand, stroking her areola. She let out a moan of pleasure, and he rewarded her by flicking her nipple.

 

She pushed him backwards onto the bed and broke the kiss. He smiled smugly at her, tracing his fingers on the outside of her breasts. She inhaled sharply, her whole body throbbing with pleasure and need.

 

There was another thing throbbing against her thighs. She grinded her crotch against his and he let out a groan. She smiled back at him and then moved down, quickly undoing his pants and tugged at them. He happily lifted his hips to allow her to drag them off, and in the next moment, he was naked.

 

His cock was fully erect and Hermione felt her knees go soft at the sight of it. Of course it was big. Anything else would have been impossible on this incredibly sexy man. She leaned over him and put her mouth against the tip, tasting it.

 

His moan encouraged her to take a bit more into her mouth, sucking the head. But before she had the time to actually start to experiment, he pulled her up, their mouths meeting instead.

 

“You have too many clothes on,” he remarked huskily, moving his hands down to her pants, making short work of them.

 

She wriggled free of them and her knickers and then attacked him again, straddling him. Their kisses were rough now. Sucking, nibbling, fighting for control. She rubbed herself against his cock, spreading her wetness all over him.

 

Then, momentarily, her senses returned to her. She broke the kiss.

 

“We need to cast the contraceptive spell,” she muttered, looking around for her wand. She didn’t remember when she had dropped it, but it wasn’t in her hand anymore, that was for sure.

 

Turning around, she saw it by the pillows. She climbed off him and reached for it, but just as she grasped it, he came up behind her, pushing two fingers into her cunt.

 

She moaned in pleasure as his thumb came against her clitoris, massaging it gently.

 

“The spell, Hermione,” he murmured, moving his fingers inside of her as well.

 

Spell? Yes, spell, some very important spell she ought to do right away.

 

She mumbled it under her breath and felt the lower part of her belly turn cold for a moment, telling her the spell had taken effect. She dropped her wand again, and Gabriel withdrew his fingers from inside her.

 

Before she had time to turn around and complain, he replaced his fingers with his cock, pushing it in slowly.

 

“Dear me, this is tight and cosy,” Gabriel said under his breath.

 

Hermione couldn’t do anything but breathe. His girth was greater than anyone’s she had experienced before and it stretched her. But at the same time, it was very pleasurable.

 

His hand came up to her clitoris again, rubbing it hard. She shivered as the first climax ran through her body. It made her moan and push back against him, making him sink into her completely.

 

“There then,” he said, removing his hand. “I’m going to fuck you now. Hold on.”

 

There was nothing else she could do. He held up her hips as he slammed into her, hard and fast. It didn’t take long until Hermione was screaming at every thrust, seeing stars of pleasure. She didn’t know how long he held up, but when she was almost at her second orgasm, he withdrew.

 

She made a whining sound, but he just turned her over, and lay down on top of her, entering her again. She sought out his mouth, and found it. Their kiss was slower than their fucking, but she didn’t mind. She could only move so fast with one part of her body at the time.

 

Her hand came up to his hair, scratching his skull, as she felt the second orgasm approach again.

 

“Now then,” he said, his tone raw. “Do you swear to help me with my plan in return for my teaching you everything I know about protection?”

 

She had almost forgotten about that. “I swear,” she said, breathlessly.

 

“Come, then,” he ordered her, and attacked her left breast with his mouth.

 

She arched up against him, her whole body trembling in pleasure. She screamed as she came, wave after wave of bliss running through her, from head to toe. He moaned as well, pushing into her long and hard three times, before becoming still.

 

His head fell down, onto her chest. Her whole body relaxed, her hands falling down at their sides. Her sex was still throbbing pleasurably, and she found herself focusing on that feeling.

 

After a couple of minutes, he rolled off her. “You have to love a good sex oath.”

 

“I didn’t even know you could make an oath through sex,” Hermione commented, still a bit breathless.

 

“It’s similar to a wand oath, just more fun to do.”

 

“Oh.” She would definitely have to research that in the morning.

 

Silence fell between them, but she didn’t mind. She needed to regain her bearings. It had been an eventful day.

 

“You’ll have to learn to protect your mind now,” Gabriel finally said.

 

“Yes, I guess so. I already know some Occlumency.”

 

“This is different. But it will be easier if I can show the concept from inside your mind,” he said.

 

“Oh?” Hermione slowly turned to her side to look at him. “How do you mean?”

 

He turned as well, his hand moving up to remove some strands of hair from her face. “I’ll enter your mind and show you. Do you trust me?”

 

“I guess I do,” she said. They had just had sex, after all.

 

“Here we go then,” he said, as he entered her mind.

 

The first thing he did was project an idea. It was impossible to put into words, but Hermione immediately realised what she must do to shield her mind against Legilimency. It was kind of like Occlumency, but also not. As if everyone looking into her mind would just see their own, and thus, she would be able to see their mind as well. Like if she was a mirror.

 

She slowly started to focus on putting the mirror up. As she did, she noticed that Gabriel was still in her mind, lurking around…

 

“Oi!” she said, pushing him away, both physically and mentally.

 

Gabriel smiled at her. “Only examining the memories of Tom. I guessed you weren’t allowed to tell me, so I did it this way.”

 

She glared at him. “It’s not okay to snoop around in someone’s mind.”

 

“Well, no, but these are very special circumstances. And I won’t be able to do that now that you have the new shield up.”

 

“What did you see, then?” she asked.

 

“Not much that I didn’t already know. Only the blood-bond was new information. That is some serious stuff. Why did Tom want to bind you as his sibling?”

 

She regarded him closely. So he hadn’t had the time to see the reason behind the blood-bond? Well, that was good. She still didn’t want anyone else to know about the Serpent of Midgard. Gabriel may be different from Riddle, but he was a Dark Wizard, and who knew what he would do with that knowledge? No, it was better not to give him that temptation.

 

“It’s none of your concern,” she said. “It’s just part of our agreement and why I need to stay with him.”

 

Gabriel sighed. “Very well, I won’t pry. It’s of no matter to me, I’m merely curious.”

 

“I’m afraid it’ll have to stay that way,” she said. “But if you don’t mind, I’d like to know what your plans for Riddle are.”

 

“We all have our secrets to keep, love,” he replied, with a smile. “What you do need to know is what your part in this is, and it’s essential that Tom doesn’t realise you are working with me. When he discovers that you can block him, you’ll have to use something else to explain why I would help you. My suggestion is that you use this.”

 

He made a sweeping motion above their naked bodies, indicating their recent interaction.

 

Hermione snorted. “Which gives you an excellent opening for having more sex with me.”

 

“What can I say? I’ve always enjoyed helping a beautiful woman deceive another man,” he said, with wink.

 

She just shook her head. Well, it wasn’t like more sex would hurt her. But she would have to weigh the pros and cons later.

 

“So, what is it you want me to do to help you?” she pressed, finding it slightly annoying that he seemed to dance around the question.

 

“Quite simple. I need you to spy on him. He clearly shows you a lot of his going-ons. I want to hear everything he does; who he meets, how he treats them, when he disappears, what he looks like when he comes back. Everything you can think of, really.”

 

“But I spend every night with you. And I’m sure he doesn’t just go home and sleep after he has left me here,” she remarked.

 

He shrugged. “That can’t be helped. What you can gather from being with him during the day will have to do.”

 

“But with this new shield, you won’t be able to know if I’m telling you everything,” she pointed out.

 

He chuckled. “You have already made an oath to help me, Hermione. That will ensure you are unable to lie or leave out anything you think I will find interesting.”

 

“Right. What will happen if I try to break the oath, then?”

 

“I’d advise you not to test it,” he said, looking serious. “I do enjoy having you in one piece.”

 

She would definitely have to look up oaths through sex in the morning.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! New month, new chapter! March is also the international endometriosis awareness month. So to all people out there who have terrible period pain, look it up. it took me eight years to get the diagnosis, and it's not normal to have so horrible period pains every month that you can't go to school or your work. So don't let people make you think that you are just "overreacting" or "weak" because you have strong period pains. It's a common disease and it's horrible.
> 
> On the nicer stuff. I want to thank Ozzy for betaing this chapter! You are so awesome 3 Also want to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, bookmarking and kudos:ing!
> 
> Enjoy!

 

**Chapter 14**

When Hermione woke up, she was at first puzzled by the weight of another person's arm over her waist. Then the memories of the night before came rushing back to her, and she relaxed into Gabriel's arms.

In the light of day, however, she started to question last night's decisions. Was she stupid, having sex with him? He was a Dark wizard, after all, and just because she hadn't seen him torture or kill anyone, didn't mean he hadn't. That he seemed to know more about the Dark Arts than Tom Riddle didn't bode well either. Just because he didn't have the same ambitions as Riddle, didn't mean she could trust him.

And why exactly did he want her to spy on Riddle? Did he not want to tell her because he knew she would disagree, or was it just a matter of trust? Just as she hadn't known him for long, he hadn't known her for that long either. Maybe he was afraid that she would find a way to warn Riddle of his plans?

There simply was no way of knowing for sure, and the realisation left her with a knot of worry in her stomach. It had been rash of her to have sex with him, but now that she had, it was best to plan for all eventualities.

If she assumed that Gabriel wanted to do something she wouldn't agree on, she would have to come up with a plan to deal with him as well. If it was just a matter of him not trusting her yet … then it was nothing she could plan for. But trying to find out Gabriel's weaknesses wouldn't hurt. If worst came to pass, she could use them. If not, well, then she just wouldn't have to exploit them.

How would she find his weaknesses, then? Well, finding out more about him was a start. She hardly knew anything more than his claim to be from Iceland. But she didn't even know how old he was, just that he didn't age. Would he reveal more if she continued to have sex with him?

_Don't think with your vagina,_  she scolded herself, embarrassed that one man could affect her judgement so. She was not some Mata Hari, she had only had sex with three different people, and had never read anywhere about how to extract information through seduction. It would probably be best if she kept her search outside the bedroom. Maybe all she had to do was ask him? It would be understandable if she was curious about him now that their relationship had changed.

"You're awake already?" a husky voice came from behind her.

"Yes," she responded, not sure what else to say.

"But you didn't leave the bed," he remarked, slowly dragging her back against his chest.

Hermione flushed as she felt his hardness against her arse.

"Eh, I guess not," she said, unsure of what she should do. On one hand, she was horny and whatever mistake she may have made by sleeping with him once probably wouldn't become worse by sleeping with him twice. On the other hand, she wasn't sure of what this meant and if it was a good thing. She didn't want to grow attached to him, since she didn't know him that well, and sex tended to complicate matters.

He pressed his lips against her throat, nibbling and kissing it, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. His right hand moved from her belly up to her breast, fondling it.

She drew a shuddering breath and wriggled free from his grip. He didn't try to hold her back, but when she turned to look at him, he was watching her with a frown.

"I-I'm sorry. I just … I need to think."

"Think?"

"Well, about this. Us. What it means."

His frown deepened. "I wasn't aware that there is an 'us' to think of."

It didn't surprise her, but Hermione felt rather uncomfortable by the casual way he said it.

"Look, we clearly have different views on sex and … well, it's more complicated for me. I have to consider if I do want to have it just for fun, or whatever this is," Hermione tried to explain. "So until I've figured it out, I don't want to…"

She trailed off, looking down at her hands.

Gabriel chuckled. "Of course. You are young."

She looked up at him, annoyed. "My age has nothing to do with it. I just don't know if I want to have casual sex."

He sat up, studying her in silence for a moment. "Huh," he finally said.

"Huh, what?" she asked. For some reason, she didn't like the sound of that "huh".

"You and Tom are remarkably similar sometimes. You both take life way too seriously." He got out of bed, wrapping a dressing gown around himself. "You enjoyed yourself last night Hermione. You shouldn't think about these things, you should just throw yourself into them."

She scowled at him, but he had already turned his back at her and walked into the bathroom. The door closed behind him.

Growling, she got up as well, heading for the bathroom downstairs. It was clear Gabriel was not a man who took rejection well. Arse.

xxx

When Tom woke up, he was lying on his back on his kitchen table. He sat up, wincing. His head was hurting and he was feeling nauseated. As he yawned, he could feel something on his cheek. He touched it and looked at his fingers. Dried blood.

What the…?

He blinked and looked around the kitchen. Oh. Right. The memory of the previous night came rushing back to him.

"So I guess that's what happens if you pull all the energy from a person," he muttered.

His head throbbed as he rose, but he needed to take care of this mess. The whole kitchen was covered with blood and entrails. It looked as if a lot more than one person had been killed. It had been a long time since he had done something so messy.

Thankfully, a couple of useful cleaning spells was all he needed to get rid of the evidence of his nightly experiments.

Once it was done, he stumbled to the bathroom. He put on the shower, got rid of his clothes and then sat down in the shower stall. He wondered if Pepper-up Potions would help. Somehow, he doubted that. It felt like a hang-over, but it was not alcohol-induced. It was magic-induced. The high had been exquisite, but it was clearly not meant as something to get high off. Storing the magic clearly didn't work, it had to be used at once.

It was a disappointment. Tom would have liked to be able to store the energy he took for later usage. In a fight, it could take valuable seconds to reach others, grab their energy and convert it to magic.

Ah, well. At least it would be useful in other types of magic which took concentration and power. He would have to try that … some other time.

He made it out of the shower, clean, and decided that he should try a Pepper-up Potion. It couldn't hurt at least.

A cup of coffee on top of that, and he started to feel somewhat like his old self. At least, he would be able to hide his pain when he went to Gabriel again.

Just before he could Apparate, he heard a knock on the window. Walking over to it he saw an owl waiting to be let in. He opened it and the owl swooped in, dropped a letter on the floor and then flew out again.

Tom picked it up and saw that it was addressed to Granger. He opened it.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Despite what you said in your letter, I can't help but worry about you. How are you feeling? I understand that you want to get away from everything that reminds you of the war, but it seems so strange for you to leave with that Dolder boy. I guess I'm just paranoid, but if you are in trouble, please let us help!_

_Now Harry is standing over my shoulder and reminding me to tell you that we are not judging you. If you are happy where you are, then we are happy. It all just happened so suddenly, so I hope you understand my confusion. Especially, after Luna told me that she had slept with Dolder just before you left._

_Anyway, if you want to come back to Hogwarts, then that will be okay too, even this close to the beginning of the year. Professor McGonagall asked about you, but when I told her what you said about wanting to get away, she was very understanding. So don't worry about her. I'm sure she'd let you in even if the year has started._

_But if not, is there any chance we can see you for Christmas? Mum has already made Harry promise he'll join us at the Burrow, and you are welcome too. Don't worry about Ron, he will have cooled down by that time, and if not, I'll just smack him in the head._

_I hope you are okay and that I'll hear from you soon._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

Tom considered the letter. Somehow, Granger had managed to send a letter to her friend behind his back. Well, it didn't matter, it was clear that she hadn't shared any information about their arrangement with her friends. Thus, it was probably best to give her this letter and make sure she responded to it. He didn't want Potter to show up looking for her. She may be able to lie in a letter, but he had no faith in her acting skills.

Yes, he had better give it to her later on.

Leaving the letter on the coffee table, he closed his eyes and spun around, on the spot. Apparation made him feel even dizzier than he usually felt, but he gritted his teeth and forced it away, as he walked down the path to the house.

Walking inside, he found Granger sitting at the kitchen table, staring unseeingly into a cup of tea. She seemed to be deep in her thoughts, and didn't even hear him come in. Tsk, tsk, that was very reckless of her.

"Good morning," he greeted her.

She jerked. "Oh. Morning."

He opened his mouth, about to ask what she was thinking about when Gabriel came up behind him.

"Tom, good, you are here. Let's go to the living room." He steered Tom away from the kitchen.

Tom studied him as they sat down on the sofas. As always, he seemed to be freshly showered and dressed in clean clothes. He wore the same air of confidence as he always did, and yet, something had happened. Gabriel hadn't acknowledged Granger in the kitchen, and she had looked away when he spoke. Something had happened between them the other night.

"So you finally fucked her," Tom stated, making a calculated guess.

The slight curving of his lip told Tom that he had been right. But Gabriel didn't bother to deny or verify. Instead, he went straight to business.

"We should start by analysing the content of the wand. I want every single particle down on paper," Gabriel said.

Tom repressed a sigh. He had done this the day after Gabriel had told him he wanted to analyse the wand, but no matter. He would do it again.

Analysing the wand took all of the morning, and it was after noon when Gabriel called the session off, claiming he had a lunch meeting. Thus, Tom went to find Granger. She would no doubt need sustenance and he wanted to find out more about what had happened between her and Gabriel.

She was sitting in the backyard, talking to snakes, but when she saw him, she stopped.

"Let's go home and eat some lunch," he said.

She didn't reply, just rose and went over to him. He always Apparated them when they travelled together.

They landed in his now clean kitchen and he started to prepare the food. She looked as if she wanted to disappear into another room, but he stopped her.

"Sit. You know we will talk about this, there is no use trying to run away from it," he said.

Granger sighed, but sat down at the table. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Did you use protection?"

Surprise was evident at first, but then her face darkened. "Yes. Don't worry, your precious heir won't be his heir."

"Good. But why are you upset with him now?"

"Because he compared me to you," she muttered.

Tom laughed. "In what department?"

She sighed. "Something about taking things too seriously."

"Huh." Well, compared to Gabriel, they were both serious.

For some reason, Granger scowled at him, but he ignored that. Instead, he finished their lunch and set their table for them.

"How come you finally agreed to sleep with him?" Tom inquired.

"It seemed like the right time," she said, clearly not wanting to answer the question.

He studied her, but she pretended to be engrossed in her salad.

"Don't make me force it out of you," he warned her.

She took a deep breath and put her fork down. "He is teaching me Defence Against the Dark Arts, but a more advanced version. In return, we have sex."

Tom put his fork down too. "Defence against me, you mean?"

"Yes. After yesterday, can you blame me? You almost killed me."

He smiled. "Then by all means, continue. Let me know when you have finished the course, and I'll be happy to give you an exam."

Her eyes narrowed. "Okay. I will."

She resumed eating. He smiled and continued as well. Protection against him? Oh, it would be amusing to crush that notion. He was nothing if not creative. In fact, he didn't even have to use the Dark Arts to torture or kill someone.

"What will we do today, then?" she asked, after having finished her lunch in silence.

"We are going on an excavation."

She looked at him, surprised. "Why?"

"If I no longer will be able to torture you, I guess I need a new hobby," he replied casually, and cleared the table with a flick of his wand.

She ignored his jibe. "Does this have something to do with Loki?"

"Clearly. We'll leave in fifteen minutes, be ready."

On his way back to his bedroom, to pick up the things he needed, he spotted the letter on the coffee table.

"You got a letter from Miss Weasley. I suggest you answer it when we get back tonight," he called over his shoulder.

He heard her get up, but didn't bother to make sure she saw the letter. It was not a big flat.

When he came out with his things, the letter was indeed gone from the coffee table, and Granger was wearing more practical, warmer clothes. Good. He did like it when people didn't have to be ordered to do completely logical things.

He Apparated them to the place he had researched: Old Uppsala. They landed up on a hill, looking down on the ancient burial ground of Old Uppsala. Grass-covered burial mounds stretched out in front of them, all of them of different heights. Underneath some of them, Muggle kings had been buried, but others hid ordinary men and women. But the burial mounds that he was interested in were the biggest.

"Come on," he said, moving towards them.

"We are in Uppsala, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "Remind me, what did Gabriel tell you about this place?"

"That it was one of the last places where the Norse gods were worshiped. Muggles have started to show an interest in it and have dug out some of the burial mounds, but they know too little about that time to know for sure who was buried where."

Tom nodded. "Yes, Muggles in the past thought that gods had been buried here. Odin," he pointed at the one furthest to the east, "and Frey."

"But Gabriel said that the gods, or rather, wizards, hadn't been buried here," Granger pointed out. "Just some Muggle kings."

"Has he ever tried to find out himself?"

She shrugged. "He didn't say, but probably, since he is interested in it."

"Then he is either a lot less clever than I thought, or he is lying," Tom concluded.

Before she had time to question him, he waved his wand at the mound to the east, revealing that a ward was in place over it.

Granger gasped. "What is that?"

"Something I didn't have the power to break through the first time I tried," Tom said, with a smile.

She immediately stepped away from him. "You are not going to take my power again."

He snorted. "Don't worry, I won't have to."

He stopped in front of the burial mound and closed his eyes, searching for the wind around him. As he had the day before, he reached out for it, grasped it and used it to amplify his own magic.

This time, the ward around the burial mound shattered. He smiled in jubilation.

"Ladies first," he said, making a gesture for her to approach the mound.

Granger, however, studied him with suspicion. "Are you sending me in first so you'll see if there are any other wards around this place that can be triggered?"

"Not only for that, but you have many uses, dear sister," he said sweetly.

Granger sighed, but stepped forward, her wand ready. He could see that she was on her guard, all her senses out to detect any harm. He followed a few steps behind her.

They slowly circled the mound, both of them looking for an opening. They had walked almost all the way around it when Tom detected something.

"There," he said, pointing towards the mound. "It's an illusion. There is an opening there."

Granger slowly went forward and cast a few detections spells over the opening, but there didn't appear to be any traps. With an encouraging nudge from him, she stepped through.

"How does it look?" he called out.

"Seems to be safe," she called back, her voice somewhat muffled.

He stepped through.

The first thing that struck him was how it looked nothing like what the Muggles who had excavated the place had said. What he saw was a great hollow room. The walls weren't made of dirt as he had expected, but completely flat stone. In the light from Granger's wand, he could see runes and pictures on the stones. In the middle of the room lay a stone casket, also covered with runes.

"Now then, Granger. Let's see if you earned that O in Ancient Runes," Tom said, withdrawing a pen and a pad of paper from his bag and handing it to her. "Start by the opening and translate as much as you can."

He started to inspect the casket in the middle. The first thing he noticed was the name carved in at the head of the casket. Odin. It appeared the Muggles had been right, then.

Slowly, he started to translate the runes underneath the name.

_Heimdall made this stone for Odin, Protector of Asgard, King of the Æsir and Saviour of Mankind. Let it be known that Odin gave his life for the world and his children. May he feast forever with Hel._

Tom examined the casket with his magical sense, but couldn't detect any magic around it. However, when he tried to lift the lid, it wouldn't budge. He considered trying to break in with the same power he had used on the outside, but decided against it. It could destroy the contents of the casket, and he didn't want that. No, it was best to translate the rest of the runes first and see if they could shed any light on how to open it.

"What have you come up with?" he asked Granger, and came to stand next to her.

"Well, it speaks of the final battle of Odin against 'the traitor', which I think must be Loki. But for some reason, they refuse to call him by name," she replied.

Tom smiled in recollection. "Yes, that's what happens when you scare enough people."

Granger snorted. "Right. The pictures show the battle. Odin is the one with just one eye, and Loki is the one with the weird mouth. I think it must be stitches, because there is a myth about how the gods sewed his mouth shut as a punishment. I guess they needed some attribute to distinguish the pictures."

"Yes, they weren't that good at artistry," Tom pointed out. If it weren't for the missing eye and the mouth, the two men would have looked the same.

"It says they fought for days, and for every day, more evil creatures would join Loki and the other gods had to join the fight. But that's as far as I have come," she said, showing him the writing pad with her neat handwriting on it.

Tom nodded. "Very well, we have a lot more to cover today, so let's get to work. If you find anything regarding the casket, call out. I'll work from the other end of the room."

As the hours went by, they covered more and more of the room. By nightfall, they had made it through the whole thing, but hadn't seen anything about the casket. Tom decided he needed to sleep on the issue. He also had to give Granger to Gabriel.

She, however, didn't seem to have any intention of leaving, as she was sitting on the floor, comparing two runes.

"What?" he asked. Despite the success of getting into the grave, he hadn't really found anything useful.

"It's just strange. It says here that Loki was slain by the king of Asgard. But then it says here that Odin was killed by Loki. Look. That doesn't make any sense. How can Odin be killed by Loki and then kill Loki?"

He crouched next to her, looking at the runes as well. "Right. That rune doesn't mean slain, it means defeated."

"But how can he have defeated Loki if he was killed by Loki? It doesn't make any sense."

"Well, in the myth is says that it was Heimdall who killed Loki by cutting off his head. The head then flew at Heimdall and killed him. But we know Heimdall was alive since he raised Loki's son," Tom said. "Maybe Odin just defeated Loki, dying in the progress, and then it was Heimdall that killed Loki? That wouldn't be written out here, this is a tribute to Odin, not Heimdall."

"Right," Granger said, not looking completely certain.

"If that is all, we have to go now," Tom said.

Granger looked up. "What time is it?"

"Gabriel-time," Tom answered.

She sighed. "Very well."

"I thought you'd look forward to going back to your boyfriend," Tom remarked smugly.

She grimaced. "He is not my boyfriend."

"Right, he is just your teacher that you happen to sleep with," he said, then added thoughtfully. "How many teachers have you slept with, Granger?"

She scowled at him, but got up and brushed off the dirt from her trousers. "None, which I'm sure you know."

They walked outside and Tom raised a new ward over the burial mound. He didn't want anyone else to enter it. At least not until he had managed to get that casket open.

"Why did you bring me with you?" she asked, when he was done.

"Because it would have taken much longer to translate those runes myself," he lied.

Granger, however, seemed to believe that explanation and actually appeared to be quite flattered. She was so easy to fool sometimes. He liked that about her.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I had planned to update yesterday, but I guess I must have... forgot? Anyway, here it is, and as always, I want to thank Ozzy for betaing, and everyone else for reading, reviewing, kudos:ing and bookmarking! You are the best!
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 15**

Hermione entered Gabriel's house, feeling slightly nervous. She hadn't got the chance to talk to him after their argument in the bedroom and she didn't know how she was supposed to talk to him now. She wasn't angry with him, but she felt like he was being immature. If she didn't want to have sex, he should accept that without sulking.

She found him in the living room, reading. He looked up when she entered and smiled at her.

"Hi. Hungry?"

"A bit, yes," she said. She had only brought fruit and crackers to the burial mound and for some reason, Riddle hadn't appeared to feel any hunger.

"I made some lasagne earlier, I can heat it up for you if you'd like," he offered.

"I can heat it up myself," she said. "Thanks."

"It's in the fridge." He turned back to his book.

Hermione continued to look at him for another few seconds before walking away with a sigh. Had this been his way of trying to apologise? Making her food? And had she offended him by wanting to do it herself? Or did he just want to pretend like nothing had happened and didn't care one way or another?

"Great grief, girl, don't think so much if it makes you so miserable."

She jumped. She hadn't realised that he had followed her to the kitchen.

He winked at her and then went past her to the fridge. "I was feeling peckish myself. You don't mind if I join you?"

"Oh, no, not at all. It's your kitchen."

The tension between them started to ease up as they set the table and started to heat the food. He took out a bottle of red wine and Hermione agreed to a glass.

"How was your day, then?" Gabriel asked.

"If you want the most important news first, then it is that Riddle and I went to Uppsala and unlocked the burial mound where Odin was said to be buried. Turned out he probably was, judging by what we found inside," she answered, and then started to eat the lasagne which smelled heavenly. It tasted just as good, the flavourful cheese mixing well with the seasoning of the meat.

"Did you really? Huh, I must have done a really bad job when I was there then," Gabriel remarked.

She looked at him, frowning. "You knew there was something there?"

"I had my guesses."

"How come you didn't open it yourself?"

"Who said I didn't?"

She put the fork down on the plate. "You did."

"No, what I did say was that I didn't find anything interesting there and that I doubted the real Odin was actually buried there."

She studied him closely. He was looking way too pleased with himself. "You knew Riddle would want to inspect it himself!"

"If you told him about it, yes."

She opened her mouth, but then quickly closed it again, her cheeks flushing. Right, so she hadn't told Gabriel that Riddle had ordered her to spy on him.

Gabriel chuckled. "I'm not angry, love. I would have been disappointed if Tom hadn't wanted you to spy on me. So what reason did he give you for joining him in Uppsala?"

"That he thought it would go faster if we translated the runes together," Hermione answered. Then she groaned. She was so stupid. "He thinks I will tell you about this. That's why he didn't want to inspect the casket at once. He is waiting for you to come and steal it, or something."

"Probably. Well, I reckoned this would happen once we fucked, it doesn't matter. He can't hide from you, so you'll still be as useful a spy to me as you will to him."

"He was mostly interested in what you knew about the Norse gods," Hermione muttered.

"As he should. It's an interesting subject, especially to him."

Hermione continued to eat, feeling foolish. Of course Riddle hadn't wanted her for her expertise. Not on something he could do himself. How could she have been staying with him for this long and not figured that out at once?

"And well, to you too, I suspect," Gabriel added as an afterthought.

She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Gabriel spun the glass in his hand which made the wine swirl around as he considered her. "You are Loki's heir too, even though you weren't born as it."

Hermione grimaced. "Yes, I guess. But it's only magic and blood. I'm still a Muggle-born."

"True. But I think he would have been amused to have you as an heir."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, curious. She had pictured Loki as kind of like Riddle, but maybe a bit madder. He hadn't seemed to care about his children at all, only as a means to experiment.

"You are just so wonderfully unexpected and intriguing. You are born from Muggles and that's all you have known, but then you realise you have magic and your life changes. You enter into a world stuck in its ways, and you don't just adapt, you see things from a different light and you make others change too. You prove every one of those stuck-up pureblooded thwarts that you are a force to be reckoned with and they fear you for it." Gabriel took a sip of wine, looking thoughtful.

"Then you get a blood-bond and inherit even more bizarre gifts. And only time will tell what you choose to do with them. But there is no telling, because you don't follow the common patterns. Oh, yes, Loki would love you. Everything that can create chaos, he would definitely approve of."

Hermione felt slightly uncomfortable. "I don't create chaos."

"Of course you do. But you do it for the right reasons. You fight for your right to exist. For your right to magic. But that disturbs the order of things, which technically means chaos. You are just hoping that something better will come out of it. However, if you were looking at the state of wizarding UK right now, wouldn't you call it chaos?"

"The Order will get it under control. There are good people left that will take care of it."

Gabriel shrugged and put down his glass again. "Yes, of course. There are always good people there to create order out of chaos. But you aren't one of them. You just start the chaos."

"I wouldn't look at it like that," Hermione objected. "Things needed to be changed."

"I'm not judging you, love. But from what I've read of Loki, that's what he would see. I'm in agreement with you, the UK needed to change, and you are one of the few brave enough to do it. And I don't doubt that you'll go on in life changing even more things."

"But I didn't start the chaos," she insisted. "Voldemort did, when he declared war on the UK."

"Ah, yes, but he was in control of that. He took control over the situation and tried to make order out of what he saw was chaos. He wanted a world where purebloods ruled and everyone knew their place. That's order in its most sickening state.

"So that's where you and he differ. You took away his power and the order he had established, but you didn't stay and try to create a new order with your worldviews. You left that to others."

Hermione opened her mouth to disagree. She hadn't just left on a whim, she was here to save the world from Loki's creation! But something made her stop. She didn't want to trust Gabriel with everything.

"I don't think I'd like Loki," she muttered instead

"No, probably not. You have better taste in men." He winked at her.

xxx

"She is quite the lousy spy, isn't she?"

Tom cursed himself for not noticing him until he spoke, but didn't turn around to show his surprise. He had been expecting him after all. That was why he had left the entrance to Odin's burial mound standing open. Now he was facing the casket, his back against the entrance.

"Indeed," he answered, and then turned around to face Gabriel. "Though, I have found that if you give her a reasonable cover story, it can work."

Gabriel smiled. "I take it she isn't known for her sexual escapades?"

"Not even a little," Tom replied.

"That's strange, because she really is something in bed," Gabriel said, walking over to him. "So you haven't managed to open the casket."

"Not yet. It seems to be more complicated than breaking through the ward," he said. "Are you going to tell me why you didn't manage to do that?"

"It flatters me that you think I'm all knowing, Tom. Alas, there are limits to even my knowledge," Gabriel responded softly.

Tom didn't for a second believe that Gabriel had been unaware of how to break through the ward. He had managed it easily once he had got the extra power, and Gabriel had taught him how to do that. Also, the timing was too perfect. Just a few days after Gabriel had told Granger about these burial mounds, Gabriel had given him the method to open it.

Tom would have thought it was all a set-up … if Gabriel hadn't shown up tonight. No, Gabriel needed his help to open this. That gave Tom the upper hand.

"Any ideas on how to open this?" Tom asked.

Gabriel already had his wand out and was scanning the casket just as Tom had done earlier.

"It doesn't appear to be sealed by ordinary magic."

"No, but it's impossible to open by magic."

Gabriel nodded and started to inspect the runes instead. Tom crossed his arms over his chest, waiting. Whatever was in that casket, Gabriel must want it terribly much. Tom looked forward to taking it first.

Gabriel crouched next to the casket. "Ah. There is another set of wards over the casket. One that makes all magic around the object disappear. Don't you recognise it?"

Tom scowled at him. "Clearly I haven't had as much time to study it as you have."

Gabriel looked at him innocently. "Maybe I'm just very good with runes and know what to expect around ancient graves?"

"I'm going to assume that you have already opened the casket and pillaged it, so I'm going to go home and go to bed." Tom said, starting to walk towards the exit.

"If you are going to be all dramatic, then fine," Gabriel said, impatience in his voice. "I'll tell you."

Tom looked at him, once again crossing his arms.

Gabriel sighed. "I did get into this grave before, yes. However, when I tried to open the casket, I triggered something and…" He trailed off, placing a hand on the casket.

A red light erupted from the casket, sending Gabriel flying backwards, crashing against the wall. Wincing, he got up again.

"You see? I never opened it."

"But you think I will be able to open it without triggering the same defence?" Tom said, doubtfully.

"Aw, don't sell yourself short, Tom. I have faith in you. That's why I set Hermione up to tell you about this grave in her first place."

Tom rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but feel pleased. Clearly, he had been wise when he hadn't tried anything more forceful on the casket.

"I hope you realise, when I do manage to open it, I will take whatever is in it."

"I'm curious, not greedy. I merely wish to know what the casket contains," Gabriel quickly assured him.

Tom had his doubts about that, but decided to risk it. Gabriel couldn't torture him as he had before. He would stand his ground in a duel.

"How do you suggest we try this, then?" he asked.

"After I triggered the defence, I studied the runes more carefully. I think the only way to do it is manually," Gabriel said.

Tom looked down at the casket. It was huge; the lid must weigh at least a thousand kilos. Then he understood the ingenuity of the defence. "Of course. You have to be a wizard to enter the mound. Anyone but the creator would try to open it with magic, thus triggering the defence mechanism. But you can use magic to make yourself stronger."

"And I happen to carry around a Strengthening Solution," Gabriel said, with a smile. "Once I figured it out, I tried it on myself, but the defence seems to remember who has been near it, because it triggers whenever I touch it, no matter if it's by hand or by magic."

Tom opened the lid and sniffed it. It smelled like the Strengthening Solution. He magically checked it for poison, but couldn't detect any. Then again, it seemed unlikely that Gabriel would go through all this trouble only to poison Tom now.

He drank it and immediately felt the strength come to him. It only lasted for a few minutes (it was toxic in bigger doses), so Tom took a hold of the lid of the casket and started to slide it to the side. Despite the potion, it was heavy, but he still managed to push it off. It landed on the flood with a great  _thump_.

Breathing hard from the exercise, Tom looked into the casket. Gabriel approached from the other side.

The least surprising find was the skeleton. A silver fastener showed that the skeleton had once been dressed, but the clothes had decomposed. The skeleton's left hand was on the ribcage, and underneath it was a wand. Despite it being made out of wood, it hadn't decayed. Tom could still make out runes on the handle, looking similar to the ones on his own. It struck him how powerful the magic inside the wand was. Ordinary wands lost their magic after at least a couple of centuries, but just as the magic in his own seemed to be eternal, so was this.

On the right side of the skeleton lay a spear, also covered with runes. By the skeletons feet lay stones covered with runes, which Tom recognised as divination runes.

"If this is not Odin, then at least he got his stuff," Gabriel said. "That's Gungnir, the spear. Even Muggles have heard of that."

Tom nodded. "And his wand, Friham. And his runes."

"Yes, those which are said to bring the dead back to life," Gabriel said softly. Then he straightened. "I guess I'll let you clean this out in peace then. Good night!"

"Not so fast," Tom said. "After all these traps, do you really think it will be that easy to just take the objects?"

"I'm sure it won't, but you already stated that you would take whatever was in the casket. I just wanted to have a peek inside. You are on your own now." With a wink, Gabriel disappeared.

Tom stared after him. What was Gabriel planning? If he was interested in Tom's wand, then surely he would be interested in these. Or did Gabriel expect Tom to die trying to take the things, so he could swoop in later and gather them?

Tom scanned the casket, but couldn't find any spells. Nevertheless, he didn't dare to touch anything first. It seemed he would have one last use for Granger after all.

Before he punished her for spying on him.

xxx

Hermione woke up by the sound of someone walking outside her room. Or rather, Gabriel's guest room.

"Hello?" she called out, softly.

A moment of silence, then the door opened. Gabriel was standing there.

"What are you doing awake?" Hermione asked, feeling a bit groggy from sleeping. It was still dark outside, so it couldn't be morning already.

"I went out to see Tom," he said, stepping into the room. "I had to confirm something. You are in danger."

"Tom" and "danger" were two words that immediately had her on high alert. She sat up in bed.

"What happened?"

"He knows I asked you to spy on him. He didn't say anything about it now, but we both know he will be furious," he said softly.

Hermione swallowed, fear turning her mouth dry. "What should I do?"

"I'll have to teach you how to protect yourself," he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I can't teach you all I would like to, but I can teach you something that will take the edge off it tomorrow."

She nodded, but then a thought made her pause. "But if he knows I'm spying for you, he won't let me know anything important. I can't uphold my end of the oath."

"Spying wasn't part the oath," he said, with a smile. "I asked you to help me with my plans. You can still do that. Spying was just one small part with which you could help me. If that doesn't work, I'll find some other use for you. Therefore, I'll uphold my end of the oath."

She sat up. "But how will I learn it in just one night?"

"Same way as before. I'll enter your mind and drop the knowledge there. You can practice for the rest of the night."

"About that, how did you even manage to do that? Legilimency doesn't work like that, I read about it."

Gabriel sighed. "Things get forgotten. Especially knowledge. This practice was outdated some eight hundred years ago when Wizarding schools became frequent."

"I've read about that. Before Wizarding schools, great magicians had apprentices, but that was basically the same as teaching. Schools just provided a safer environment," Hermione said, remembering her History of Magic-lessons.

"It's easy to see history as a progressive line. It isn't. When schools were built, this method of learning was banned because it was seen as an intrusion of the mind. Everyone has secrets, even children."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "If it were forgotten, then how come you know about it?"

He sighed. "I'm a bit older than I may have led you to believe."

"That's impo—" He silenced her by pressing a finger against her mouth.

"I don't like that word. I already told you that I don't age. And as you have seen, I have yet to encounter anything that can kill me. I was there when Hogwarts was built, Hermione. I met your ancestor."

Hermione stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying. It went against every law of nature and magic she knew. The only possible explanation was that he was lying.

Gabriel must have seen her doubt, because his hand fell down in his lap. "I can show you. I have a Pensieve. But we must hurry, we don't have that many hours until Tom gets here."

She nodded, slowly. It wasn't like anything short of that would convince her that he was telling the truth. However, she knew that memories could be messed with. He had probably seen Slytherin in her mind, he could create a memory from that. But how good would it be? He had only been inside her mind last night.

Deciding that she would check it out, she followed him upstairs to his bedroom. He pulled out a Pensieve from his closet. It was made of brass, decorated with metallic roses. It seemed strangely feminine, but then, so did he sometimes.

He put his wand against his temple and slowly withdrew a memory, dropping it into the Pensieve.

"I'll join you. Salazar and I both speak an old form of Scandinavian in the memory. You won't understand it without me there," he explained.

She nodded, a part of her wary of what would happen inside the memory, but another part of her curious.

Taking his hand, she followed him into the spinning abyss inside the Pensieve. Once the fog cleared, she found herself standing inside a pub. People were drinking, talking and laughing. It could have been any time in history if it weren't for the clothes. She didn't know a lot about wizarding fashion through history, but everything she saw looked … old. The men wore robes of different colours, and they were of a different cut than she was used to. The women wore dresses that looked medieval.

"Over there," Gabriel said, nudging her.

Just as she turned her head, she saw Gabriel walk through the door. Or rather, memory-Gabriel. He looked almost the same, except for the black beard on his face. His robe was black and seemed to be of an excellent quality, with silver buttons. His green eyes wandered over the crowd until they came to rest on a dark corner. Following his gaze, Hermione saw a younger Salazar Slytherin sitting there.

Her adoptive ancestor's face was less lined than she remembered, and his robe was much more humble, just a dark green fabric. When he saw Gabriel, he rose, waving him over.

The real Gabriel and Hermione followed memory-Gabriel over to the table.

"You found your way?" Slytherin asked, making a gesture for Gabriel to sit down.

"Yes, I've been here before," Gabriel said, sitting down.

Even though she could understand them perfectly, there was something weird about listening to them. She could hear that they weren't speaking English, but the words seemed to make sense.

"You saw our school?" Slytherin asked.

"I saw. Who are you trying to impress? The students?" Gabriel sneered.

"We want to show that we can house both students and teachers, safely. You felt the wards, yes?"

"Yes. Rowena is a talented witch."

"I'll let her know you said that." There was something strange about the way Slytherin was acting. All the times she had met him, he had been less … humble, she guessed the word was. In fact, the Slytherin she knew was not humble at all. But there was something about this younger version that made him appear humble. Or maybe he was only intimidated by Gabriel?

"She knows what I think. I did teach her, even if it was only for a little while," memory-Gabriel said, somewhat bitter.

"Which is why she wanted me to talk to you. She holds no grudges against you, and she hopes that you will consider joining us."

"And bring my students with me, no doubt?" Gabriel huffed.

"It's true that we could benefit from your reputation as a teacher, but we don't need it. Godric and Helga are well-known already," Slytherin said. "But together, the five of us could create something that will last for centuries, Ingram."

"I have no interest in that," memory-Gabriel said coldly.

Right then, the real Gabriel turned to her. "I think that will be enough."

He pulled her out and in the next moment, they were standing inside his bedroom again. She opened her mouth, but before she had a chance to speak, Gabriel had stumbled over to the bed, falling upon it.

She rushed to him. "Are you okay?"

He waved away her worry. "The only downside of being old; remembering the past makes a lot of things resurface. Forgetting is bliss."

He pressed his hand against his forehead for a second and took a deep breath. Then he sat up again, the colour returning to his face.

Hermione studied him closely. The memory had appeared very real. She didn't know how anyone could come up with something so detailed in such a short time. Slytherin hadn't been like she remembered him, and yet, he had seemed real. Thus, it didn't feel like a fabricated memory.

"How old are you?" she finally asked.

"I can't know for sure. We didn't count time the same way when I was young. And there are gaps in my memory; I'm not sure for how long."

She just stared at him.

He smiled at her. "It doesn't matter. I haven't changed much. I wanted to become immortal because I felt that there were so many things to learn and see. One life wouldn't be enough. It still hasn't been enough. Even now, people like you and Tom come along and surprise me."

He took her hands and pulled her towards him. "Which is why I'd rather you survive your next encounter with Tom unharmed. Will you agree to let me teach you?"

She still hadn't managed to wrap her head around how old he was, but she realised she wanted to know more. And that meant having to trust him.

"You'll be able to see more of my secrets if you enter my mind," she stated.

"Yes, there is no way around it. I'll try not to peek, but if you think about it, I'll see it too."

She grimaced. "Give me a moment. I need to start thinking about something else."

"We don't have long," he warned her, glancing towards the clock on the nightstand. It was beginning to get brighter outside. However, since it was summer in Sweden, that meant it was still not even four in the morning.

But she knew she would need to practice as well.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. She leaned in and kissed him, knowing that it would take her mind off the things she didn't want to think about (her mission to stop the Serpent of Midgard), and unto thoughts about him.

Gabriel wasn't late to respond, kissing her back with a passion that did indeed take her mind to more pleasant things.

After a couple of minutes of snogging, she pulled back. "Okay, I'm ready."

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Good. Er… just a second."

She smiled. It seemed their kisses weren't only good for distracting her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Ozzy for all the hard work betaing <3 You are awesome! Sorry for the delay in updating, I had a plan on updating every two weeks, but health is bad atm. So please forgive me for not being up to date with the review replies, I really do appreciate the ones who take their time to review <3 But I figured you'd like it more if I updated at a reasonable time! 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 16**

When Hermione saw Riddle, she did her best to push away her fear. Gabriel had prepared her; he would have a hard time torturing her now. At least with magic. She knew there were many other ways to torture someone that didn't require magic at all, but she hoped Riddle would feel like he was above using Muggle techniques. In fact, that was all she could hope for. That, and talking him out of it. He couldn't kill her, he still needed her.

"Let's go," he just said, grabbing her arm and Apparating away.

Once they landed, Hermione stumbled away, but the curses she had expected to rain on her never came. She looked around and discovered that they were at Odin's burial mound again.

Riddle grabbed her arm again and dragged her into the grave and over to the casket.

"Pick up the wand," he ordered.

That was when she noticed that the casket was open. Looking inside, she made a grimace at the skeleton. She had seen skeletons before, at museums, but there was still something about them that unnerved her. They weren't sickening, like a decomposing body, but still … creepy.

"Is there some sort of trap around it?" she asked.

"That's what we are going to find out. Pick it up," he ordered, his voice cold.

She sighed, withdrawing her wand. It wasn't like she would just dive into this blindly. But Riddle had other plans. He summoned her wand out of her hand and broke it in two, throwing it aside.

Hermione's mouth fell open in shock. Had he just— No. He couldn't have. She needed that wand. It felt as if he had broken her arm.

"You have a new wand there. Pick it up."

It felt like she was seeing him for the first time. He looked as collected as he always did, but he wasn't. She could see it in his eyes and the hardness of his features. He was beyond furious. He wanted to hurt her, but he wouldn't do it right away. No, he wanted to test her first.

Should she refuse?

It wasn't as if she would get off easier if she did what he wanted. He would torture her regardless. However, if she did it, then they would get down to the real business. If she refused, he would only care about the wand and forcing her to pick it up. With that already taken care of, he would have to focus on what he was really angry about.

Sighing, she stretched into the casket, and grasped the tip of the wand with her thumb and index finger, slowly pulling it away from the grasp of the skeleton's hand.

She screamed when the skeleton's right hand came up and grabbed her wrist. The skull turned towards her, staring at her with its empty sockets.

She stared back, too scared to move. It felt like something was scratching at her brain, trying to get in. It took her a moment to recognise it as Legilimency. What was going on? Was the skeleton trying to see into her mind? What for?

No, it couldn't be Legilimency, it must be some sort of spell. Legilimency required a living will. Magic could be cast over corpses in many different ways, but they usually only had one mission. She remembered the illusion of Dumbledore's body at Grimmauld Place and how it was guarding the house to stop Professor Snape from entering. Perhaps this skeleton was making sure she didn't have any ill intentions towards the objects?

If the skeleton was meant to kill anyone for trying to steal the objects, than it would have done so already.

She decided to let the shield around her mind fall. It wasn't like the skeleton could tell anyone about her plans.

Whatever the skeleton saw, she must have passed, because the grip of her hand disappeared and she found herself able to move again. She stepped away from the casket, wand in hand. A strange warm feeling was creeping up her arm, travelling from the wand.

"Now give it to me," Riddle ordered, holding out his hand.

Hermione took a firmer grip of the wand. "No. You broke mine. I'm keeping this."

When she said it, she knew it was right. The wand had accepted her.

Riddle tried to summon the wand from her, but she was ready, and easily deflected it.

His eyes narrowed.

"I'm keeping the wand, Riddle," she said sharply. "I can take out the other things for you, but this wand is mine."

Riddle studied her, and then nodded once. She didn't let it fool her, however. If he wanted the wand, he would try to get it later, when she wasn't on her guard.

She reached down into the casket and grabbed the spear. This time, the skeleton didn't react at all. Neither did it move when she collected the rune stones. Riddle accepted them, putting the runes stones in a black purse and taking the spear in his hand. He studied it for a moment, then turned to her.

"I take it you have heard that we have some talking to do," he said coldly.

She sighed, nodding.

"We will be able to talk undisturbed at home," he said. "For your own sake, don't try to run away."

"I wasn't planning to," she said, stepping up to him and holding out her arm for him to take.

He grabbed it and Apparated them again.

They landed in their flat (although, it was more his than hers, since she had never slept there). Riddle put away the spear and the purse in his bedroom and closed the door, coming over to sit in the armchair.

"Sit," he ordered her.

She sat down in the other armchair.

"You disappoint me, Hermione," he said, his voice dangerously soft. "You fight me because you think you are better than me, but then you fall for the first Dark Wizard that fucks you. You do realise he is using you even more than I have been?"

She crossed her arms. "He never tortures me."

"He hasn't had a reason to, yet. You have followed his every whim so far."

"I know what he is."

"You just don't mind, because he is good in bed, you mean?"

"Of course not! But unlike you, I haven't seen him do anything that I would stop," she argued.

"Ah, so you like it when people lie to you and hide things from you?"

She pressed her fingers against her forehead, taking a deep breath. For some reason, he was trying to provoke her, but she wouldn't let him. "I like him better than you, that's for sure. But until I actually see him doing something illegal, I can't exactly blame him."

"No, because breeding dragons is a perfectly innocent and legit hobby," he remarked dryly.

"It beats torturing and killing," she bit back.

"He tortured me."

"You had it coming."

That seemed to be the last straw. She didn't see him draw his wand, but she saw the flash coming at her, and she didn't have time to even duck. She closed her eyes and focused on what Gabriel had taught her. It was a method that was supposed to redirect the magic. It did work, however, it redirected the magic to the armchair she was sitting on, which caught fire. She flew up, drawing her wand to put out the flames.

"I see he taught you a few tricks," Riddle remarked.

She spun around to face him. "Yes, I thought you would try this and it's completely unreasonable. I realise you are angry with me, but this is your fault to begin with. If you'd just dedicated your time to helping me save the world, then I would've been out of your way in no time. But no, you had to make this into something more and use me in any way you could think of. Of course I was going to rebel at the first possible opportunity! What did you expect?"

Riddle rose from the armchair and stalked up to her. "You are an ungrateful little twat with naïve expectations. I don't even care if the world is saved from the Serpent of Midgard or not. I can work with either scenario, but yet, I agreed to help you."

"Who is lying now? If you didn't care about the Serpent, then you wouldn't have gone through all this trouble. I haven't been that big of help to you."

He gripped her shoulder, pressing her back against the wall. "At last, something we agree on. So why don't I put us both out of our misery and just kill you on the spot?"

She grew cold. "You can't."

"Actually, the more I think about it, the more the idea appeals to me."

She thought fast. "It will break your agreement with Gabriel."

"He can have your body for as long as he likes. I'll even wrap it up for him."

She flicked her wand, and he was hit with a red flash. However, it only made him grunt in pain and he quickly took her hand with his free one, smashing it against the wall behind her. She groaned in pain and dropped the wand, which he kicked aside.

He growled and leaned closer towards her, their noses almost touching. She met his gaze, angrily. For several seconds, they just stared at each other, willing the other to make the first move which would no doubt unleash chaos.

Then a flicker went through his eyes. Like he had realised something. As if she had burned him, he let go of her, stepping back. She stared at him, not sure of what she should do. What was he up to?

Just as quickly as he had let go of her, he grabbed her again. " _Legilimens_!"

Her mirror wall was already up, and just as it had worked the last time, instead of seeing her thoughts, she saw his.

_He is tricking us both. He wants us to fight, but why? What will he gain from it? He knew I would confront her, and he made sure she could protect herself, but does he want her to live, or to die by physical means? What is he planning? He has known everything that will happen so far, he knew I would find the grave, need his knowledge and take her with me. What's so important— Oh._

He withdrew from her mind after just a second, but it was enough for her. She stared at him in disbelief. There had been an overwhelming sense of fear in Riddle's thoughts. Did he really think Gabriel was tricking them?

"So he has taught you even more tricks," Riddle remarked, appearing a lot calmer than he had been in her mind.

"Why do you think Gabriel is tricking us?"

"You truly are naïve if you think he isn't, Granger," Riddle hissed.

She wanted to argue, but a part of her agreed with him. There was nothing about Gabriel that was selfless. Even though he hadn't hurt her, he hadn't exactly done things out of the goodness of his heart either. He made deals.

Riddle read her expression and nodded. "Not so stupid then."

"Of course I know he is not a good wizard, but that still doesn't change that he hasn't hurt me like you have," she pointed out. "If I have to work with a Dark Wizard, I rather work with someone who doesn't torture me."

"So you would rather I fuck you too? Turned on by incest?"

"No!" she exclaimed, horrified.

"Torture it is then."

She put her hands on her hips. "You can't do that either, so I guess you'll have to make deals with me as well."

Riddle sighed and came closer to her again. "Your lack of faith in my abilities is depressing, Granger."

Without any movement from his wand, she felt the familiar blood-curse sweep through her body. She screamed in pain, but as quickly as it had started, it disappeared, and she found herself in Riddle's arms.

"Now when that has been demonstrated…," he muttered, trailing off as he carried her over to the sofa. He dropped her there, which made her land awkwardly on her left hand. The hand he had slammed against the wall earlier.

She bit back a scream of pain.

"What?" he asked, as he sat down next to her on the sofa, apparently having forgotten his own earlier rough treatment.

She hissed and lifted her hand, nursing it with her other.

"Oh. Right." He pointed his wand at her wrist and healed it. "However, as you can see there are two ways I can torture you, if I want to. Through blood and physical violence."

She glared at him. "Is that supported to make me submit to you? Because I feel much more like putting that new spear of yours up your arse."

"My, such imagination. Putting a spear up ones arse, no one has ever considered doing that before." Riddle shook his head, smiling condescendingly. "It seems like your lover still has a thing or two to teach you."

"We have just started," she growled. Never before had she wanted to hurt someone as much as she wanted to hurt him right now.

Well, okay, maybe Umbridge. But then again, she had hurt her too. For a moment, she entertained the thought of luring Riddle into the arms of the centaurs. She was sure they could give him the same treatment as they had to Umbridge. Alas, Riddle was not as stupid as Umbridge had been.

Riddle studied her curiously. "Now what are you considering that can make you look so ruthless, I wonder?"

She smiled coldly, but didn't answer. He would no doubt laugh if he heard of what she had done to Umbridge, and she wasn't here to amuse him.

Riddle shrugged. "Well then, on to business. I can't have you here when you are spying on me."

"And how did you plan to stop me?"

"By not having you here. At all. You are not welcome here anymore."

She snorted, but then she saw how serious he looked.

"You can't be serious," she said. "What about my training?"

"You should have thought of that before you started spying on me," he stated and rose from her side. "You have five minutes to gather your belongings and leave, or I'll throw you out."

"But we have to—" He interrupted her by waving his wand, creating a countdown in the air. It was counting down from 300 seconds.

She decided that she didn't want to see what he would do when the countdown ended. No, it was better to retreat and fight another day. She could go and talk to Gabriel and they could figure this out.

Gathering her things didn't take more than a couple of minutes, and when she came back out to the living room, 100 seconds remained. She looked at Riddle, but he just stared at her coldly. Why was he doing this? If he wanted her gone, why allow her to take her things? Not that she had left that much here; most of her things she carried with her all the time. He had changed his mind about killing her, but why? Just because he thought Gabriel was tricking them? But why would he let her go? He must realise she would go to him for help.

"Bye," she said, one minute remaining.

He didn't acknowledge her, just kept staring at her.

She sighed and Disapparated.

xxx

When she was gone, Tom made the countdown disappear. He fell back in the armchair sighing. He had hoped this would work. But forcing her to go to Gabriel and stay with him was the only way she would see that he was no better than Tom.

There were always a risk Gabriel would kill her now that she was useless to him. But he would have to take that risk. This was the only way he could think of that could make her see what was going on. That Gabriel was using her just as much as Tom was. Then she would come back and he could…

He trailed off. What was he supposed to do with her?

He had had plans, but the way she was now, she would spoil each and every one of them. She wasn't like his Death Eaters. He couldn't scare her into obedience, nor seduce her with power or gold. She was too stubborn. He didn't have the patience for that.

Everything about her had been one giant miscalculation. He would have to start again. Beginning with showing her who her lover really was, so she would come crawling back to him. Then he would have to find his patience.

xxx

Hermione hesitated when she reached Gabriel's front door. Should she knock? He wouldn't be expecting her until the night. Was it rude to just go in? She decided to take the safest route and knocked.

Just a moment later, he opened it and surprise was evident on his face.

"Hermione? What are you doing here so early?"

Her shoulders fell. "Riddle threw me out. He didn't want to risk me spying on him, so he said I was no longer welcome."

For a few seconds, he said nothing. Then he sighed and opened the door wider for her. "Did he hurt you?"

"Yes, but not much. Well, not much by his standard. He only showed that he still could. Then he threw me out."

Gabriel led her to the living room and made her sit.

"And he broke my wand," Hermione added, once again struck by the grief of losing her wand. It didn't matter that she had a new one; her old wand had been with her for so long. She hadn't even been able to pick up the pieces. It felt wrong that she hadn't.

"We should get you a new one then, right away," Gabriel said.

"Oh, I got one, already," she said, withdrawing the one she had picked up from Odin's grave.

Surprise was definitely evident on his face now. That, and something else. Dislike? He schooled his features before she could say for sure.

"I thought Tom wanted that wand."

"He owed me one. When I touched the wand, I knew it was mine," she explained. "And he let me, for some reason. I gave him the other things in the grave, though."

"What happened in the grave?" Gabriel asked. "And what happened afterwards? You had better start from the beginning."

Taking a deep breath, Hermione started to explain what had happened, all from the skeleton to the fight with Riddle. Once she was finished, he seemed thoughtful.

"He is testing you," he finally said.

"Yes, I think so too," Hermione said. As she had described the event, she had come to the same realisation. If he was truly that angry with her, he would have killed her, not kicked her out. But what was he testing her for? Did he think she would come crawling back, begging him to continue teaching her again? He did have the Basilisk Egg she would need.

Or was he testing her to see how long she could stay with Gabriel? Was he expecting Gabriel to harm her? He had said she was a fool for thinking Gabriel would never do anything to her. Perhaps this was his way of proving her wrong.

"Maybe he is testing you too," Hermione remarked.

"How?"

She shrugged. "Well, he thinks I was there to spy on him. Maybe he wants to see what you'll do now when you can't spy through me."

Gabriel sat quietly, looking thoughtful. She wondered if she should mention what she had seen in Tom's mind, that Gabriel was tricking them both, but decided against it. Gabriel had said that she no longer broke their oath by not spying on him, because he had already found out what he needed to.

"Do you think Tom will come here for his lessons?" Gabriel finally asked.

She hesitated. "I don't know. He is suspicious of you now, but I think he was earlier as well. Will it screw up your plans if he doesn't come?"

"Yes. But I think we can give it a few days. He is curious, so he may show up by himself."

"And if he doesn't?" she asked.

He watched her, amused. "Do you want me to hurt him?"

She thought about it. When he suggested it, she did feel a thrill of something dark inside her. Did she want to see Riddle hurt? Yes. After everything he had done, she wanted him to suffer. However, she didn't feel like using someone else to hurt him. This was personal.

"I want to hurt him myself," she replied hotly.

"Is that so? Does it mean you want to learn the Dark Arts?"

She flinched. Did she? A part of her, a small part, wouldn't mind. She knew that. But at the same time, she didn't want to stoop to his level. She didn't want to become a Dark witch. She was better than that. "No. Not the Dark Arts. I want to find some other way."

"He was angry when you chose me over him," Gabriel remarked.

"Yes, but that's just because he feels like he owns me. I want to show him that he doesn't. I want to punish him for thinking that he does."

She was surprised when Gabriel took her hand, he stroked the back of it with his thumb, and then leaned in to kiss it. "You are very sexy right now, love."

She could feel her cheeks heat up, but she snorted. "I just wish I could figure out a way to do it."

"Stand your ground, and then … maybe I have some other magical tricks up my sleeve that you can use. Come on." Still holding her hand, he pulled her up from the sofa and to the black wardrobe she had noticed, but never been able to open. Though, she had only tried the door once, and then it had been locked. She hadn't wanted to test the lock, respecting his privacy.

Gabriel opened it, revealing an endless corridor. He led her inside. She couldn't keep her eyes off of the things on all the shelves. Countless different objects lay there, but then, she guessed you picked up a souvenir or two when you were a thousand years old. She saw books and scrolls, potion bottles, wands, boxes, weapons, and even stuffed animals.

After several minutes of walking, he stopped in front of a shelf. He took down a potion bottle with a dark lilac-coloured content. It was dusty, but he wiped it off with his sleeve.

"Here you go," he said, handing it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, inspecting the bottle closely. There was a rune on the seal of the bottle, but without any context, she didn't know what it meant.

"It will help you stand your ground. Physically. It's a type of invincibility potion. We will train more so you can learn of how to protect yourself from him magically, and then when you feel like it, you can take this and beat the crap out of him without any lasting effects on you."

She frowned. "But invincibility potions are banned."

"True, but this is not Dark Arts, and they are only dangerous if you become addicted to them.

One dosage will last an hour, and the only thing you'll feel afterwards is a slight numbness in your mouth. It passes, though."

Well, she doubted it would hurt to have the opportunity if she couldn't think of something herself. She thanked him and he led her back towards the exit. However, halfway down the corridor, she stopped as she saw a painting lying on a shelf.

"Who is that? She looks familiar," she asked, coming to a halt in front of the painting. She leaned in and looked at it more closely.

It was the dark eyes of the woman that had made her stop. The artist had captured a certain glint that made her look alive, and very familiar. However, as Hermione studied the rest of the painting, she doubted she had ever met the woman. The dress she wore was that of a wealthy noble woman in Europe during the early 1700's. Her wig was white and added a good three feet to her height. She was smiling, but not in a soft way, like Hermione was used to seeing in paintings of this time, but a smile filled with mischief.

Gabriel looked at the painting, frowning. "Huh. I don't even remember I had that. I should probably try to sort through this sometime."

"You seem to have it quite organised here, though," Hermione remarked, seeing numbers and letters on all the shelves. He had found the potion without problem, after all.

"Yes, I try, but I do forget things too," Gabriel said, shrugging.

Hermione stretched out a hand to pull the painting out, and was surprised when Gabriel swatted her hand away.

"Probably not wise. If I don't remember what it is, I can't guarantee that it isn't dangerous. I have a lot of very powerful Dark objects down here," he explained, his voice serious.

"But shouldn't you remember if this was one of those very dangerous objects?" Hermione questioned. "And why would someone put a curse on a painting?"

He sighed, and pushed her onwards. "You are insufferable sometimes, love. Don't touch my things."

She was surprised by his behaviour, and a bit hurt by the comment. She hadn't been called insufferable in years. However, she guessed that it wasn't strange if he didn't want to discuss some of the things down here. Maybe the woman on the painting was someone who had hurt him? He was very old, after all, and it was likely he had had some broken hearts along the way. So she guessed she couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk about everything (even though he could have just told her it was private). But why did she feel like she knew the woman in the painting from somewhere?

They came back out to the living room and he closed and locked the wardrobe behind them.

"I have somewhere I need to be soon," he said, as he turned around. "I didn't know that you would come so early."

"Oh. Right. Of course," Hermione said. "I didn't mean to intrude. If you have to leave, then leave. And if you need me to leave, just say so. I mean, I just assumed … since I sleep here…"

She trailed off, feeling foolish. Just because she hadn't seen Gabriel do anything while she had been here didn't mean he couldn't have plans.

"No, I want you to stay, and you are welcome to stay for as long as you like," he said, with a smile. "I'm just letting you know. Do whatever you like here, eat, sleep, watch some telly or help yourself to a book. I'll be back later tonight."

He leaned in and kissed her forehead and then pulled back with a wink. Hermione smiled, unsure of what the kiss meant. She guessed that now that she was staying with him, she would have to think again about their relationship. He clearly saw them as intimate, even though he hadn't asked for sex again. But then, it had only been two days since she had said she needed to think. Maybe he assumed that, since she had come here, she saw him as something more?

Why had she come here? Sure, it had been logical since she still had to be there every night, but she could have gone someplace else. Maybe she could even have skipped the nights and just gone back to Hogwarts. It was Riddle's deal, not hers.

Thinking of Hogwarts reminded her of the letter Ginny had sent. She may as well answer it at once. Who knew when she would next have some time alone?

Remembering there was an office next to the guestroom she had been staying in, she went there. Of all the rooms in the house, this was the least messy, but more dusty. She guessed Gabriel didn't use it often. There were mostly bookshelves with books in no particular order, and a desk standing by the window. She found paper and a pen in the top drawer and sat down on the office chair, beginning to write.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Once again, I'm sorry for my fast departure. I still can't really explain why I did it, but that night I just had a feeling that I couldn't stay at Hogwarts. Everything felt so suffocating I just had to leave. Tom had just found out he needed to go back to Sweden (as to why, that's his story to tell) so we talked. He offered that I could join him for a while. The change of scenery has been good, I think. I've met some interesting people and I'm no longer staying with Tom. (And no, there was never anything romantic between us, and I do hope Luna doesn't think I stole her boyfriend.)_

_I've met a man here and right now, I'm staying with him. His name is Gabriel and he is a teacher_

As she wrote the last sentence, Hermione realised what Ginny would think when she read it. That Hermione had got a boyfriend. Once again, she was reminded of her relationship with Gabriel. The only reason she didn't want to be in a relationship with him, she realised, was because he was a Dark wizard. She could imagine the horror on Ginny's face if she heard that. Ginny knew precisely how seductive and manipulative Dark wizards could be and she would be terribly worried if she thought Hermione was in such a relationship.

Was she?

Or was she a victim if she knew that she was probably being manipulated? Then again, she wanted to use Gabriel as well. But then, that didn't make things better. No, whatever this thing with Gabriel was, it was not a long-term thing. Thus, it would be unnecessary to write anything about the intimacy to Ginny.

_We have become friends and he has agreed to give me some private lessons. So yeah, even though I ran away from school, I seem to have still ended up learning things!_

_Tell everyone that I miss them and I hope I'll see you soon. I'll have to get back to you on what to do for Christmas. I don't plan so much for the future right now, I just want to relax and not think too much (yes, I know you are probably laughing right now, but at least I'm trying not to think too much). If you need me, send an owl to Gabriel's house. I'm renting a room here for now._

She finished the letter by including Gabriel's address and signing it. Putting the letter in an envelope, she put it aside and looked out through the window. What was she supposed to do now?


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, all caught up with the review replies and ready to post a new chapter! I hope you like it. There aren't that many chapters left now, only five and then an epilogue. I hope you like them!
> 
> Ozzy, my pearl, my star, my beta! Thank you so much for all your hard work. And I also want to thank everyone who has taken their time to read, review, kudos and bookmark. You make my day!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 17**

Tom lifted the spear, Gungnir, and inspected it closely. The runes decorating the tip of the spear were known to be powerful runes and were meant to make the spear magical. So far, however, he hadn't been able to make the spear do anything special at all. The only magical thing about it was that the tip was sharp, even though it had been in a grave for thousands of years. Nor had it rusted.

From what he had read about it, the spear was also able hit any target, no matter how bad the one holding the spear was at aiming. He had yet to try it out, but if that was the case, and that was the only magical thing about the spear, then Tom would be truly disappointed.

Why would he need a spear when he could kill someone with magic? He didn't miss his target anyway, his aim was excellent.

He put away the spear and took out the purse of rune stones. He hated that Granger had got away with what appeared to have been the most powerful object in the grave. However, he had seen the wand bond with her, and to gain ownership over it, he would have had to defeat her. That was something for later. Besides, he still had his own wand which he had yet to figure out, and it was supposed to be powerful too.

He poured the rune stones out, into his left hand. As he did, he felt them heat up. The runes had begun to glow. It wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite. It told him that he had activated them.

Putting his right hand over the runes, he shook them three times between his hands. That was the way he had learnt to do it in his Divination class.

Getting down on his knees onto the floor, he poured the runes out onto the ground. He quickly removed the ones that had landed facing downwards, to the side. Only five runes were facing up. He studied them, trying to recall what each of the runes meant in Divination.

The runes were still glowing. Curious, he reached out to touch one, to see if they had become hotter.

When he did, a blinding light erupted and he fell forward, his hands coming up to his face to shield his eyes. Images flashed before his eyes. He recognised Granger. She appeared to be under water, but in the next moment, darkness was flashing through her body and the ground beneath her body lit up with magic. A new picture came up. A gigantic snake-like creature rose from the water, and fear was all he felt at the sight of it. He could suddenly see himself. He was dragging Granger away from the water. She appeared to be dead.

In the next picture, Hogwarts was aflame. In the following one, London appeared to be drowning in an enormous tidal wave. He could see himself again, carrying Granger, running away from something.

All of the pictures had been soundless, but then another thing happened. Everything was pitch black. He knew he was there, fumbling around in the darkness. Then came laughter. A victorious laugh, dark and cold. And he knew, without a doubt, that the world had ended.

Opening his eyes again, he discovered that he was lying on his side. He sat up. The runes weren't glowing anymore, and when he touched them, they were cold.

Had it been a vision of the future? Or a warning of what would happen if Granger failed to control the Serpent of Midgard?

What should he do? Last time he had decided to believe in a prophecy, things hadn't exactly gone as he had planned. Then again, he hadn't heard the full prophecy then. This time, he had received it.

It must be a warning. The rune stones belonged to Odin, and he had died trying to stop Loki's monster creations. Was it just a coincidence that he had got this vision? Perhaps Odin had enchanted the runes to show the importance of stopping Loki's creatures?

Or was he not meant to have got the vision? He had been a part of the visions, but so had Granger. Maybe this was meant to be a warning to her? The skeleton had reacted to her after all.

However, did this mean that Granger was meant to fail, or a warning of what would happen if she did? Tom knew what she would have done if she had seen this vision. She would have worked even harder to control serpents and basilisks and then went down to the Serpent of Midgard at once. She would have nagged at him to help her constantly.

Should he tell her about this? It would certainly make her come back to him. However, he didn't just want her to come back. He wanted her to see who Gabriel really was as well. No, he had better wait. Patience was something he needed to adopt with her.

He just hoped it wouldn't be too late once she finally came around.

xxx

Hermione was awoken by the smell of coffee. She opened her eyes and saw Gabriel enter the room with a tray.

"Good morning, love," he said brightly, putting the tray down in her lap.

"Morning," she said, quite puzzled by his treatment. "What have I done to earn this?"

He shrugged. "I just like to woo you."

He sat down by her legs and Hermione noticed that there were two cups of coffee on the tray. He took one of them.

"What do you want to do today, then?" he asked.

Hermione took the cup, studying him closely. He had been nothing but polite last night, and to her great relief, he hadn't tried to get her into bed with him. But what was he after now?

"I don't know," she answered his question, carefully. "You don't have any plans?"

"Not today, no. I was thinking that we could take a tour of some interesting places here in Sweden. I recall you mentioning that you had never been here before."

She relaxed. "That sounds like fun. I've only read about Sweden, but there are some places I would like to see."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, we have been talking a lot about the Norse Gods, and that has got me interested in the Vikings. I heard there was a really good museum in Stockholm about them," she explained.

"You mean a Muggle museum?" Gabriel asked, eyebrows lifting in surprise, his tone filled with disbelief.

"Yes. I  _am_  Muggle-born after all. Sometimes I think it's good to see things from a Muggle's perspective. They see things that wizards don't," Hermione said, slightly agitated that he was looking down on Muggle things.

"I know, Muggles make up for not being magical in a lot of fascinating ways. However, their recollection of time passed leaves a lot to be desired," Gabriel said, wrinkling his nose.

"Oh, right," Hermione said, feeling a bit foolish. "If you met the founders of Hogwarts, you must have been around when the Vikings were ruling here."

"Indeed," Gabriel said, amused. "But very well, we can go to the museum. If nothing else, I can tell you what they have got wrong."

Hermione smiled, her spirits lifting as she realised what an opportunity it was. Who else could say that they had got a tour in a Viking museum by someone who was alive at that time?

They left after breakfast, Apparating to Stockholm. Hermione wanted to pay the entry fee, but didn't have any Swedish money. Gabriel took care of it, but she was quite sure he didn't actually pay, but used magic instead. She sighed. Wizards' arrogance always annoyed her, but she pushed the thought aside.

Hermione wasn't surprised by the lack of visitors in the museum. In the entrance hall, a group of children were gathering around a tour guide, but other than that, there didn't seem to be a lot of visitors. However, most were probably at work, and if there were any tourists in town, they were probably enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

Gabriel led her into another room, away from the group of children. Here was where the real exhibitions started. The first thing she saw was a glass casket where the bones of a human lay. They stopped in front of it, and Hermione was pleased to see an information placard in English.

"A male warrior from 800 A.D," she read out loud. "Death by stab wound, possibly in battle, at the age of 36. He was buried with traditional warrior objects."

Looking inside the casket again, Hermione recognised several items, like a spear and a knife, but also some things she had to read about to understand what they were, like some coins.

Gabriel had also read the placard and was now eyeing the objects suspiciously. He seemed almost disappointed.

"What? Did they get all of it right?" Hermione asked, chuckling.

Gabriel huffed. "Yeah, but this man was clearly a Muggle, so you wouldn't expect to find anything strange in the grave."

Hermione smirked. "Maybe Muggles aren't so stupid after all."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find a lot of things they have given ridiculous meanings too, come on," Gabriel said, dragging her along.

They walked around, and to Gabriel's pleasure, they soon found something the Muggles had misinterpreted. In a long row, several small, golden figures were placed underneath a glass casket. The information box called them "Gullgubbar – an offering placed underneath a house or an area of worship".

"An offering," Gabriel said, with a snort. "Those are a type of magical wards, used to keep Muggles away and such things. They have just run out of magic."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, Muggles don't believe in magic, so of course they couldn't write that. But I have never seen someone use golden figures to create wards. Didn't they make wards the way we do?"

"They could, but these are more potent," Gabriel explained. "Viking wizards used these to protect special locations. Using these gold figures made the wards last over generations, and the more there were, the better the protection. Wealthy wizards could have over fifty of these underneath the foundation of their house, to make sure no Muggles or rivalling clan could enter the house. They could also be used as protection against fire, cold and everything else you'd like to protect your house against."

As he talked, he moved down the line of Gullgubbar, and when he reached the end, one of the figures lit up. Gabriel hastily jumped back, pulling Hermione with him. "Oh, looks like one is still active."

Hermione blinked in surprise, eyeing the figure which had emitted the flash. Now it was dark again. "What was that?"

"An alarm, I guess. They are the easiest types of wards. They just warn that another magical being is close by, but don't do anything to stop it. It must have been a very powerful wizard who cast the spell over the figure if it's still active."

Curious to see more of the figure, Hermione shrugged out of Gabriel's grip and went to have a closer look. However, this time, no light erupted as she came closer. Frowning, she turned to look at Gabriel again.

"It's not giving out a warning now," she commented.

Gabriel's eyes shifted to the figure and then back to her. "Maybe that flash drained it. It can't have much magic left. Come on, we don't want to risk triggering something else. We wouldn't want Muggles to start asking questions."

But Hermione noticed that he didn't come close to the casket, where the figure lay. Instead, he walked in the opposite direction, towards another exhibition hall. She had a feeling Gabriel was hiding something. She doubted very much he would care if Muggles saw something. He was a powerful wizard, and it wouldn't have taken much for him to alter memories if someone had come by. Yet, he had seemed worried about something, but it was clear that he didn't wish to talk about it. Perhaps he had been a part of whatever rivalling wizarding clan the figure was supposed to warn about?

Sighing, she decided to wait and see if she could ask him about it later. The new room seemed to have another theme, and Hermione was pleasantly surprised to recognise a lot of the photos hanging on the wall. They were photos of rune stones with pictures of Norse gods.

By the back wall, there was a motion picture being projected, and Hermione was happy to hear that they were speaking English. Ignoring Gabriel's sigh, she went to it and sat down on one of the wooden benches. A cartoon was playing, visualising myths.

"… Freya refused to marry the giant to get Thor's hammer back. Loki came up with a new suggestion. Thor was going to pretend to be Freya and dress up in her clothes to get the hammer back. Thor agreed, only if Loki joined him, dressed as 'Freya's' handmaiden."

The motion pictured showed two cartoon men dressing up in dresses, with veils over their hair and faces. In the end, only the eyes and hands were showing.

"I can't believe the same jokes are still being used," Gabriel muttered from her side. "Men dressing up in dresses, oh, ha-ha, it's so unmanly!"

Hermione looked at him, surprised to hear such a comment from him.

He noted her look and sighed. "When you have been alive for as long as I have, it becomes clear that the clothes don't make the man, or woman for that matter. Fashion is one of those things that changes the fastest. One decade, everyone wears togas, the next, it's all pants for men. Then, all men are wearing heels and pink, the next, it's unmanly and only women wear heels and pink. I'd very much like to not give a fuck, but people always judge you by the way you dress."

She continued to stare at him. "You really don't like fashion."

He grimaced. "I grew tired of it when I was your age. I prefer to be naked, but no, then you are seen as insane as well."

She chuckled. She knew a lot of people who hated shopping for clothes, her dad being the prime example, but Gabriel seemed to be in a league of his own.

Before she had a chance to agree with him, the group of school children came into the room, the guide stopping close to them. Now Hermione realised that the guide was talking in English, and she was happy to listen in, even though Gabriel groaned next to her. She shushed him.

"… Which Norse gods have you heard of?" the guide asked the children.

Several hands flew up in the air. The guide nodded towards a tall boy.

"Thor!" he answered happily.

"Yes, indeed. Thor, together with Odin and Frey seemed to have been the most popular gods, or at least the ones they talked about the most. There are several runes mentioning their names, and there seem to have been a lot of offerings to them for protection and prosperity," the guide replied in an enthusiastic tone. "Anyone else?"

Three students raised their hand, and the guide nodded at a red-haired girl.

"Freya."

"Yes, Frey and Freya were twins, and some even think they were two different faces of the same god. They both stood for fertility."

"What did Loki stand for?" a small boy in the front row asked.

"Loki was what is called a Trickster. He never seems to have had worshippers the way Thor and Freya did, but he was a critical part of the myths. The myths weren't just used to entertain, but also to tell people of how to behave and how the world functioned. Loki did bad things and was punished for them, so that the people hearing the myths would learn from it. That is why he doesn't appear like a 'normal' god. He constantly changes shapes: he is a giant, but then he is also an Aesir. He can transform into any shape he wants, he has been both a fish and a female horse. He is what the myth requires him to be."

The guide continued to talk about the gods and the purpose of the myths, but Hermione was no longer listening. Instead, she was thinking back to the painting she had seen in Gabriel's enchanted wardrobe. She realised where she had recognised the woman from: Gabriel. She had had the same eyes and expression as Gabriel did.

Glancing over to him, she wondered if the woman could have been Gabriel. He was immortal; he would have to change his appearance now and again to stay under the radar. And if he could do that, why would he always want to be male? He was quite androgynous, now that she thought about it. Just looking at the way he sat now, nothing of it screamed male. He had his legs crossed, he was leaning forward, with his elbow on his leg and his chin in his hand. It wasn't necessarily a female way to sit, but it wasn't just that. The jeans and green t-shirt could easily have been worn by a woman of the same size. His face was more pretty than handsome. He had a lot of authority when he spoke and moved, but that wasn't just for men.

"Have you ever been a woman?" she found herself asking, in a low voice, so she wouldn't disturb the guide.

Gabriel blinked and looked at her, his forehead setting into a frown. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just thought … if you can change your appearance, why wouldn't you have tried out being female?" she explained.

"Having some lesbian fantasies are we?" he asked, his expression turning playful in an instant.

Hermione scowled. "No, I was just curious."

Gabriel chuckled. "Then yes, I have been a woman. It's not that different from being a man, generally speaking. I could be a woman without even having breasts."

Hermione thought back to the painting again and remembered that the chest had indeed been rather flat. Although, she had never questioned it being a woman.

"Which one do you enjoy the most?" she asked, curious. If she had had the magical ability, it would have been fun to test out being a man for a while, even though she felt comfortable being female.

"Depended on my mood and the society I lived in at that moment," Gabriel said, with a shrug. "Being a man comes with a lot of privileges, so I often chose a male form."

Hermione huffed, but didn't feel like starting a rant about the destructive patriarchy. Instead, she followed Gabriel as he rose and walked away from the school children. They still had some rooms left to explore, but Hermione found her thoughts travelling back to Loki.

From what she had read, it was a good thing that Loki had died. The Muggles thought he was fictitious and that he hadn't done any of the horrible things the myths told them about. But Hermione knew he had done that, and a lot of other horrible things. And no one seemed to have been able to stop him.

It must have been an effective defence, to be able to change your appearance at will. Every time he did something terrible, he could just change what he looked like, and the other gods could search the whole world, not knowing what they were looking for.

Well, since they did find him in the end, she guessed they must have thought of some ward that only reacted to him—

No.

No way.

It couldn't be possible.

But no matter how much she tried to deny it, it was like pieces she didn't even know belonged to the same puzzle were starting to come together. Gabriel was immortal. He could change his appearance. He had manipulated them into opening Odin's grave. Was it because he couldn't do it? Had there been wards in place to stop enemies of Odin from entering the grave and stealing the secrets? Gabriel was really interested in Riddle's wand, which had been made by Loki.

It was like that time she had figured out that Slytherin's monster was a Basilisk, or who Nicholas Flamel was, or that Rita Skeeter was an Animagus. It all fitted together, but she needed to verify it. At Hogwarts, she would have run off to the library, but this was not something a book could help her with. Yet, the urge to either verify it or disprove it was strong within her. She needed proof, one way or another, and she wanted it now.

What would be the easiest way to prove that someone was someone else?

She almost slapped her own forehead when she realised the simple solution: a blood test. Not the Muggle type, but the kind purebloods used to verify that someone was related to them, even if it was several times removed. But she would still need blood, and if Gabriel was indeed Loki, she didn't want him to find out that she was testing him.

It struck her that she should probably be more freaked out by the possibility. If Gabriel was indeed Loki, it meant that not even the other wizards of Asgard had been able to stop him. And it also meant that he could now be doing some other horrible thing.

Like keeping her from learning how to control the Serpent of Midgard.

He had easily separated her from Riddle, her only way to learn how to control the Serpent. In fact, everything Gabriel had done since they had met him had resulted in widening the gap between her and her blood-brother. Was it on purpose?

Hermione had always had a cool head. She didn't freak out until the danger was over. It had saved her and her friends' heads many times. Only a few months had passed since she had lied even while under torture to save her friends. At the same time, she had figured out where they would find one of Voldemort's horcruxes.

Thus, Hermione didn't freak out, no matter how potentially catastrophic the situation was. Instead, she began to calculate how to best get blood from Gabriel.

"What's the matter?" Gabriel asked. "Is the museum not as much fun as you expected?"

Hermione flinched when his voice disrupted her thoughts, but quickly tried to school her features. "Oh, no, sorry, I was just thinking."

"You looked troubled," Gabriel noted, a flash of concern crossing his face.

Hermione waved dismissively. "All this talk about the Norse gods just made me think about Riddle. But sorry, I won't burden you with it."

He grasped her hand, pressing it gently. "If you need to talk, I'm always happy to listen."

Hermione forced a smile. "Thanks, but I don't feel like ruining this lovely day."

He smiled back, and Hermione almost started to doubt her own theory. He was so nice and caring … or rather, he appeared to be. She forced herself to remember Riddle. If Riddle, one of the most evil people in the universe, could trick everyone into thinking he was a nice guy, surely Loki, who had had thousands of years of practice and experience, could do the same thing.

They continued to look at the objects, but Gabriel seemed to sense that her heart wasn't in it anymore, because he soon suggested they go someplace else. He took her to a restaurant for lunch and Hermione forced herself to relax and pretend like everything was normal. Gabriel did make it easy to think about something else. He was charming and funny and just the right amount of flirtatious.

It was almost at the end of lunch when Hermione realised that the easiest way to draw blood from him, without him finding it strange, was through sex. She knew how easy it could be to accidentally hurt someone when hormones were running high.

However, there were many downsides to having sex with him again. If he was Loki … well, then she would be having sex with someone who made even Tom Riddle look like a model citizen. If he wasn't Loki, he would think that it meant that she wanted to have sex more often with him. It would complicate their relationship more than it had to be.

But she had to know for sure and she had to know now.

They returned to his house and Hermione contemplated on how she would be able to do it. She didn't feel like having sex, but maybe she could fake it? They didn't have to go all out, after all. She just had to get him worked up enough and then collect the blood somehow. She could make it look like an accident. In some areas the skin was really easy to break through. She could bite his lip, that was quite easy, or she could—

Oh. Right.

Hermione was suddenly reminded of a hushed conversation between Parvati and Lavender one late night when they had thought Hermione was asleep. Lavender had been very embarrassed, over causing a man to bleed. She had said that she hadn't even applied any pressure, it had just happened.

Yes, and that would also be a good way to make him not want to continue having sex.

Gabriel had made his way out onto the terrace and she followed, hesitating in the doorway. The afternoon sun was hot out here, and he had his face turned against it, looking like a pleased cat, without a care in the world. After a few seconds had passed, he looked up at her, raising his eyebrows in question.

Gathering up every ounce of the courage her inner Gryffindor had, she marched over to him on the bench and straddled him. Before he had time to ask what she was doing, she pressed her lips against his.

He was not late in following her lead. His hands came up to her back and hair, and he kissed her back, passionately. It was surprisingly easy to kiss him. He was a very good kisser, applying just the right amount of pressure, moving just the right way.

She moved her hands up to his hair, letting her fingers move through the thick strands, before going down his neck and arms. For several minutes, they stayed locked together. When she felt him starting to shift underneath her, she finally pulled back, gasping for air.

She could feel her cheeks flaming, mostly of embarrassment for being so forward, but also from excitement. Doing this would be easier than she had initially thought.

Gabriel looked up at her, his eyes burning with passion. He didn't ask any questions. Instead, he moved his hands down to her arse and rose from the bench, easily carrying her inside. She wrapped her arms around him so she wouldn't fall, and took the opportunity to start kissing her way up his throat.

It was clearly the right thing to do, because he moaned in pleasure and fastened his steps up to the second floor.

He sat down on the bed and started to tug at her t-shirt. She allowed him to pull it off of her, but then turned her focus towards his clothes, ripping open the shirt. Her hands were trembling slightly, but she repressed her nerves as much as she could.

She started to tug at the fly of his jeans at the same time as he opened up her bra. She shrugged out of it, but didn't let him move down to undo her pants. She knew she wasn't as wet as she had been the last time they had had sex, and she didn't want him to suspect that anything was wrong.

He helped her remove his jeans and underwear, and she found him half erect.

"I'd like to try something," she said breathlessly, when he once again tried to grab a hold of her pants.

He paused his movements and looked at her in question.

"I've never sucked someone," she confessed.

She had half feared that Gabriel would refuse to let someone inexperienced perform oral sex on him, but she shouldn't have worried. If anything, he seemed pleased.

"I'm always happy to teach you new things," he murmured.

She smiled in relief.

He moved up on the bed and she followed, settling down between his legs.

"Start with your hands," he ordered her.

She placed her hands on his cock, and slowly started to stroke it. He moved his own right hand down and showed her exactly how to move her hands. It didn't take long until he was fully erect.

"Now, you can start by licking the tip," he said, arousal clear in his voice.

She leaned down and did that, forcing herself not to react to the strange taste. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't the worst thing she had tasted either. If she had been more aroused, she probably wouldn't have noticed the taste at all.

"Now you can start sucking. Start with just the tip and don't go further than what you feel comfortable with. I don't expect you to be able to swallow it," he stated, chuckling. "But watch your teeth."

This was it. Hermione started off by sucking slowly, making sure her teeth were covered by her lips. However, as Gabriel started to moan and buckle his hips, she thought it was safe to make "a mistake". She let her teeth out from underneath her upper lip, and grazed the penis. She didn't even have to bite down. She tasted copper in her mouth at the same time as Gabriel let out a hiss in pain and pushed her head away from him.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry," Hermione said, grasping his cock with her hand, pretending to try and stem the blood flow.

However, Gabriel quickly pushed her hand away as well.

"It's an easy mistake," he said, groaning. "Just … I'll be back."

He got out of bed and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Hermione took a deep breath and looked down at the palm of her hand. It was red with blood.

She withdrew her wand from the holster and conjured up a small vial. Then she carefully moved the blood from her hand into the vial. She put a lid on it and put the vial into her pocket.

Waiting for a few minutes, she wondered what she should do now. She didn't dare to perform the blood test right now. Even though it was relatively quick, Gabriel could be back any minute, and she only had one chance. It was better to wait until she was alone. If she left now, he could become suspicious. Perhaps it was better to wait until he came back and then go to the bathroom or something. She could easily claim that she needed to pee, peopled peed all the time.

However, waiting half-naked made her feel cold, and she guessed it would be reasonable if she put her t-shirt back on. Just after she had done that, the bathroom door unlocked and Gabriel came out, dressed in his dressing gown.

"I'm sorry," she said again, looking away.

"It's okay, it was your first try," he said, sighing. "Perhaps it would have been better if you had practiced on someone that didn't have the same girth as me."

Realising that he had indeed forgiven her and was now teasing her, she looked up again, snorting. "Yes, clearly men with big cocks aren't meant to be sucked off."

He chuckled and came over to the bed again, pulling her into his embrace and laying them both down across the bottom of the bed. He kissed her cheek.

"I'll teach you, don't worry about that," he murmured into her ear. "As long as you are passionate about it, it will be easy."

She smiled, unsure of what to say.

"However," he continued, not bothered by her silence. "I'm a bit curious as to what made you lose your hesitance. I thought you would want to take things slow."

"Well … I don't know. Life is short. At least for most people. I guess I just realised that today, and then I saw you sitting there and…," she trailed off, wanting to be as vague as possible so he wouldn't notice that she was lying.

"Ah. Good for you. I'll take full advantage of your new-found love of life tomorrow, when my abused cock has forgotten the misdeed," he said, and kissed her on the lips before sitting up.

Hermione sat up slowly, not really daring to hope that she had got off that easily. Gabriel started to gather his clothes.

"Uh, all right," she said. "I guess I'll just … use the bathroom then."

"Be my guest," he said, and winked at her.

It took her a moment to figure out why he had winked. Then she realised he must think she was still horny and wanted to take care of it. Well, that suited her. Then he wouldn't come knocking too soon.

She locked the door behind her and withdrew the vial with his blood, placing it on the window sill. Conjuring up a piece of paper, she nicked her own finger with magic and let a drop fall down on the paper. Then she withdrew a drop of his blood and let it mix with hers, as she spoke the spell non-verbally.

Seconds ticked away. She knew the spell took exactly 67.8 seconds to work. If they weren't related, nothing would happen. If they were, a family tree would appear and indicate how they were related.

She wished she had brought a clock. Had it been a minute already? Nothing had happened. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe she had just made a silly mistake and she would go to bed tonight, groaning about how foolish and paranoid she was. Well, wars made people paranoid, and it wasn't like her paranoia hadn't paid off before. So what if she had made a mistake now, no one had got hurt.

Okay, so Gabriel had got a bit hurt, but he would get over it. It had just been a shallow scratch; he would probably not feel a thing—

The blood on the paper transformed. Lines began form. A small dot indicated her, and then there was a line going upwards. It didn't turn to the side, indicating that they were related, but like a distant uncle or something, no, it went straight up until it finally stopped, making a small dot, indicating Gabriel.

She was related to Gabriel. In a straight line, going back maybe forty generations. She was his direct descendant.

The odds that he was some other immortal, super powerful great-great-a-lot-great-grandfather were practically non-existent. No, with everything else she had noticed, the answer was clear.

Gabriel was Loki.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so sorry to leave you at that evil cliffhanger for that long. I had planned to update sooner, but I've been back and forth to the hospital this past month, and it has been really stressful and shit, so yeah, no time for fanfiction. Now, however, I've got new meds again, and I'm starting to get used to them, so fingers crossed!
> 
> Like always, Ozzy, my wonderful beta! Thank you so much for all your hard work! I also want to thank everyone else who have read, reviewed and kudos:ed and faved!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 18**

Hermione sank to the floor with her back against the bathroom door, willing her heart to calm down. Loki was alive. Not only that, but he was sitting there, outside, waiting for her. She was alone in a house with Loki and Merlin knows what he had planned.

She tried to remember everything he had said to her since they had met. He had a plan for Riddle, she knew that at least. And it was understandable as well. Riddle was his descendant and of course he would want to do something about him. But what about her? Did he have some plan for her as well? He must have, why else would he treat her so well? But then, she was his heir too in a way—

Oh, fuck. She had fucked her ancestor.

Then a more terrible thought struck her. She had fucked Loki.

Taking a deep breath, she rose from the floor, beginning to pace back and forth. Nothing good had ever happened to the people Loki fucked, that was something the myths had taught her. It was a good thing he didn't have any other children right now, because she wouldn't want another werewolf-creature running around out there.

Dread flooded her. No. It couldn't be. She had cast the contraceptive spell!

_Don't be stupid, Hermione, if he is indeed Loki, he would find a way around that._

Hands shaking, she performed the pregnancy spell she had learned from Madam Pomfrey years ago. Every girl at Hogwarts learned how to cast it, together with the contraceptive spell. If you were pregnant and didn't want to be, it was important to catch it early on.

The tip of her wand turned green, indicating her worst fear. Loki was using her for some nefarious purpose, and she could bet her wand on that it wasn't a normal baby. Whatever he was planning…

She shuddered. But no, it wouldn't come to that. She would get rid of it. An abortion potion wasn't easy to brew, but she was an excellent potion maker. The ingredients were easy enough to come by at least.

However, she wouldn't be able to do it here. Gabriel, no, Loki would discover it. The potion had to simmer in darkness for a day, if she recalled correctly. Thus, there was no way she could do it outdoors either.

She took a deep breath, pushing aside her fear. This was not the time to get scared. She could deal with this if she kept her head cool. The first thing she needed to do was to make sure Loki didn't suspect anything. He would probably not hurt her if he thought she was unaware of who he was.

Then, she would have to go somewhere else and start the potion. But she didn't have any Swedish currency, and didn't know from where to buy ingredients here either. Loki would know, but she didn't want him to suspect a thing. It would be unlike her to ask him for money.

No, there was only one other person she knew here who could help her. But could she go back to him?

Hermione thought back to her last encounter with Riddle. He had made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing more to do with her. But at the same time, she had sensed his fear of Gabriel. Had Riddle suspected who Gabriel was? No, if he thought he was Loki, Riddle wouldn't have kept it from her. At least, she didn't think so. After everything they had found out about Loki, Hermione was sure Riddle wouldn't want her to be in Loki's clutches.

At least, she didn't think so.

Doubt filled her. If she went to Riddle with this information, would he help her? One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be able to deal with Loki alone. He had demonstrated many times how powerful he was. More powerful than Riddle.

She would need Riddle's help to deal with Loki. Even though she wasn't sure what Loki wanted, he was much more dangerous than Riddle. Using her like this … at least Riddle had never lied about wanting to use her for his own ends. As much as she hated Riddle, he was the devil she knew right now. And her problem was rather acute. Why would Loki even want her to be pregnant? Maybe he wanted to build a new army of sorts? Like the werewolf? But who needed the werewolf when—

The Serpent! Loki had been inside her mind, and she couldn't be sure of what he had seen or not. It was possible he knew that she planned to put the Serpent to rest. Was Loki keeping her and Riddle apart so she wouldn't be able to stop the Serpent in time? He had told her not to go back to Riddle, after all. Let him squirm, he had said. Perhaps the Serpent was closer to waking up than they had thought?

But then, why impregnate her as well? He already had a creature powerful enough to destroy the world, why would he need more dark creatures? Or was this just some twisted game? Wanting her as a mother to his child? Pretending that she had got pregnant by accident to bind her to him? What for?

"Hermione? Are you okay in there?" Gabri– no, Loki's voice came from outside the door.

"Yes, just a belly cramp," she called back, not having to fake the weakness in her voice.

"Can I help?" At once, he sounded concerned. Was he faking it or was he really worried about her?

"No, it's okay," she answered.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything."

"Yes, thanks."

She heard him walk away.

Maybe he was concerned. Whether the thing growing inside of her was an experiment like the ones he had done before, or a normal baby, he probably wanted to keep an eye on her. Make sure she didn't hurt it.

Well, she would have to use that to her advantage.

After waiting for another couple of minutes, she flushed the toilet and washed her hands, just in case he was listening. When she exited the bathroom, she found him sitting by the window, reading. However, he looked up when she entered, and concern was evident on his face.

"What happened?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. When I was in the bathroom, my belly started to cramp. Maybe I'm getting my period a bit earlier than anticipated."

He gracefully rose from the armchair and came over to her. Unlike most men she knew, he hadn't even flinched at the mention of her period. Damn. She had hoped it would make him not want to be with her.

"Let's go downstairs. Do you want something for the pain?" He placed a hand on the small of her back and led her out of the room.

Hermione did her best to not stiffen at the contact. Just twenty minutes earlier, she had been performing oral sex on him, it wouldn't make sense if she was suddenly uneasy in his presence.

"No, that's okay, the pain comes and goes," she answered. "I think I just want to lie down and focus on something else."

They reached the end of the staircase. "Let me know if you change your mind. I'm an excellent potion brewer."

She forced a smile. "I believe you. How are you feeling? I mean … from the accident."

Hopefully, pretending to be embarrassed from the biting incident would mask any unease he might sense from her.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. I heal quickly," he replied cheerfully.

He made her sit down on the sofa. "Can I get you something else? A book? A cup of tea?"

She hesitated. On one hand, it was probably best to keep the talking to a minimum so she wouldn't accidentally reveal that she knew who he really was. On the other hand, if she was going to go back to Riddle, she would need more information. About Loki and his plans. If he was indeed after the Serpent and knew that she was attempting to stop him… hm.

"No, I just want you to stay here with me," she said, looking down at her lap so her eyes wouldn't betray her. "And … I think I need your help."

He sat down at the other end of the sofa. "Oh? With what?"

"Well, you know how Tom and I have been working together? Maybe you can help us." She was gambling now, she knew it. However, Loki most definitely knew about the Serpent. He was the one who had created him after all. And he most likely knew that his own descendants were controlling it.

"You know so much about the Viking age," she continued. "Were you there when the Æsir were alive as well?"

She glanced up at him, but could see no alarm on his face, just thoughtfulness. "No, I'm not that old. The Æsir were myths, having lived hundreds of years before they were worshiped as gods. Of course, we wizards knew they weren't gods. Some, however, impersonated the gods to get followers among the Muggles. So stories about the gods visiting 'Midgard' come from that."

"Oh. But they must have left things behind."

"Of course. You and Tom opened Odin's grave after all. Is that what you and Tom are working towards? Finding relics?"

She shook her head, hesitating. This was it. If Loki didn't already know that they were going to stop the Serpent, he would find out now. "Not exactly. You see, the Serpent of Midgard is still alive."

She studied him closely, half expecting him to fake shock or disbelief. Loki, however, didn't move a muscle.

"Yes, I know," he just said.

"Oh … well, he is waking up, and we have to stop him before he destroys the world," Hermione continued.

"Ah, of course. Yes, I'd expect that from you," Loki said, looking thoughtful. "Not sure what Tom would get from that, though."

"I guess he is thinking that to control the world, there has to be a world to control," Hermione explained, unsure of how she should judge his reaction. His lack of surprise, fake or otherwise, indicated nothing to her.

"I guess. What do you need my help for?" Loki asked.

She looked down at her lap. "Tom was supposed to teach me how to control it, but after what happened … I was hoping you could help me figure out a way to stop the Serpent from rising, without Tom's help. You know so much that has been forgotten through time, I thought that maybe you'd know something about how the Serpent was created, or something like that. Anything that could help."

Loki moved closer to her, leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I'm flattered that you trust me enough to tell me this. I'm sure Tom would disapprove."

Hermione snorted, allowing him to pull her against him. She rested her head against his shoulder, forcing herself to relax. As long as he didn't know that she knew who he really was, she was safe.

"Yes, but so far, you have done a lot more to make me feel safe than Tom has," she muttered. It was true, even though her trust had clearly been misplaced.

She could feel him kiss the top of her head and forced back the sudden urge to laugh. Since when had she become surrounded by mass-murdering Dark wizards? Life was weird.

"Alas, I'm not sure I know anything that could help. Loki was always a side-character in the stories I heard. Used mostly to make the other wizards look good." Was there a hint of bitterness in his voice? No, she was probably just imagining it; Loki was too good of an actor. But why didn't he want to tell her about Loki? He had been more than happy to tell her stories about the other wizards before.

"Yes, but still … except the Serpent and the wand, do you think there are any relics of him left? Something that could help me?" she pressed.

"I can certainly ask around," he said. "I know some collectors that would be interested in relics such as those. They should know."

Hermione wanted to ask if he wasn't considered a collector himself, judging by the room inside his cupboard. However, pressing too much would make it sound like she doubted him, and that was exactly what she didn't want right now.

"Thanks you," she said. "I'll still need to master Parseltongue, though. I'll go out tomorrow and practice. As pleasant as today with you has been, this is something that should have priority."

"Yes, we wouldn't want that Serpent to rise," Loki said, sounding serious.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening talking or reading. Hermione did her best to act as normal as she could, but by then, she decided that it was reasonable to go to bed.

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Loki asked, just as she reached the doorway to the hallway.

Hermione hesitated. The true answer was no, she really didn't. But was it strange if she didn't? She had almost had sex with him earlier today, was it weird if she didn't want to sleep with him?

Loki saw her hesitation and smiled, getting up from the sofa as well.

"I see, you are not one of those who like to cuddle when you sleep."

Hermione exhaled slowly, shaking her head. "It's just … I don't sleep that well with other people. But I don't want you to think…"

She trailed off, unsure of what she should say that would sound believable.

"I understand," Loki said, grasping her chin, leaning in and kissing her. "With time, I think you'll get used to sleeping with me as well. But I'm not in any hurry. Go to bed, I'll stay up a little while longer."

She nodded, still not sure of how she should respond to that. "Goodnight."

She went to her bedroom, undressed and got into bed. But she knew that nothing would make her fall asleep. She decided to wait until she had heard him go to bed as well, then she would start to research. Even though she thought she had read everything she could find about Loki in Slytherin's books, she wanted to make sure. Especially the part about his death. She remembered reading about Heimdall killing Loki, but clearly, Loki was like Riddle and no death seemed to stick.

After maybe an hour, she heard the door open. She closed her eyes, pretending to be deep asleep. For several seconds, she didn't hear anything, then, the door closed again. Was he keeping an eye on her? Did he suspect that she knew?

If she had still thought that he was Gabriel, she would have assumed he just wanted to check out of concern, but now she was worried he was looking for something else. Maybe he just wanted to make sure she hadn't run away? It wasn't like he could read her mind anymore to make sure, he had made sure of that when he had taught her the mirror trick.

She heard him walk up the stairs and waited for another half-an-hour before she got up and gathered her purse. She pulled out the books which were about the Norse gods and started to skim through the pages.

A passage about Odin and Loki made her pause.

_After the death of Balder, Odin questioned Loki on why he had done it. Loki supposedly answered: "Because things have become boring. You have become too safe and secure in your position of power. Your experiments aren't what they used to be. I want to see you like you were before, when your magic wasn't weakened by order."_

Hermione frowned over the passage. "Gabriel" had told her that Loki would have liked her because she destroyed the current order of things. He had said that she brought chaos. Was that all Loki wanted? Chaos? Why? She fought to make things better, but Gabriel had only focused on her destructiveness. Was that why he had used her like this?

But then, why would he want Riddle? He had even said that Loki wouldn't have liked Riddle because Riddle wanted things to be in order according to his own rules. However, Riddle had done impressive stuff before he had got power. Was Loki looking to make Riddle lose his power so he would be … more fun?

She wasn't sure of what to think. Who could even tell what Loki was thinking? He had been alive for millennia, who knew what sort of impact that had on a person? Because even though he was immortal now, he hadn't started out that way.

She continued to skim through the book, trying to find something else that would help her.

When daylight started to creep in through the window, she put away the books, lying back against her pillow, thinking. Leaving wouldn't be hard. She could just pretend to go out to practice. What would be hard was getting Riddle's help. The only thing that made her think he would help her was that he had said he wanted to be the one to pick out who the father of her baby would be.

However, he hadn't liked Gabriel, and Hermione was pretty sure he wouldn't be happy to learn that he was Loki. That information should hopefully be enough for him to help her.

She felt stressed out. She wanted to go now. She wouldn't be able to rest until the thing that inhabited her body was gone. She didn't want to think about it, because the thought more than freaked her out. It sickened her. To know that something was inside her, no matter if it was human or not, without her consent, it made her feel like her body wasn't her own anymore. Like someone else had stolen it. And she wanted it back. Right now.

If that meant begging Riddle for help, then she would do it. She would rather owe him than have her body used like this, without her permission.

And once that was taken care of, she would plot her revenge. No one could do this to her and get away with it. Not even an immortal ex-god.

Around eight o'clock, she decided that it was a reasonable time to get up. She needed coffee if she wanted to make it through the day, that was for sure.

Just as it was done brewing, Loki came down the stairs.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked.

She grimaced. "Didn't sleep so well, but other than that, I'm fine."

He nodded, a look of sympathy on his face. "I'm afraid I have to go away for the morning again, but I'll be back later, if you feel up to something by then."

Hermione felt relief flash through her. "I will train for as long as I have the energy, so I don't know when I'll come back."

"Well, don't forget to eat at least," Loki said, with an encouraging smile.

She just nodded, and when he left, she felt herself relaxing. Good, he hadn't noticed anything.

Finishing her coffee, she gathered her belongings and Apparated to the building Riddle was staying in. Determined, she walked up the stairs and knocked on his door. She wasn't going to let him start another fight. She was going to talk and he was going to help her and they were going to get rid of Loki.

The door opened. If Riddle was surprised to see her, he didn't show it. He just looked at her, arching an eyebrow in question.

In her mind, she had gone over what the best opening line would be. It would need to shock him, but not make him angry.

"Loki is alive and he has impregnated me," she said.

Now, shock was evident on his face. He stared at her, blinking slowly for a couple of seconds until he stepped aside, letting her get into the flat.

She walked inside.

"Gabriel?" Riddle asked.

Well, at least he was quick to catch up. "Yes."

"I see." Riddle was quiet for a few more seconds. "Lie down on the sofa."

"What for?" she asked.

"I want to see what he has done to you. I assume you came to me because you are afraid of the Dark Arts he has used in this."

Hermione felt foolish for not even considering that. Of course any experiment would have been done with the Dark Arts. "Yes," she lied, and went to lie down on the sofa.

If Riddle detected her lie, he didn't comment upon it. He sat down on the coffee table and started to run his wand over her belly.

"Oh," he suddenly exclaimed.

"Oh what?" Hermione asked, feeling the fear she had suppressed starting to surface again.

"When did you say was the first time you and Gabriel had had sex?" Riddle asked.

"Last week," she said, wondering what the hell he had found.

"I see. Whatever this is, it's growing faster than it's supposed to. I'd say you are already over a month along. No morning sickness?"

She shook her head.

"He probably did something so you wouldn't notice. I wonder…" He trailed off and waved his wand a few more times. Then, he suddenly rose and hurried off to the bathroom.

She sat up, about to call after him, when she felt a stabbing pain in the lower side of her belly. She groaned. What had Riddle done?

He came back, uncorking a potion bottle, and pressed it against her mouth.

"Swallow," he ordered.

Even though she didn't normally trust him, the pain was increasing rapidly, and she did not feel like arguing with him. She swallowed it.

"Now this," he said, pushing another potion against her mouth. "It will render you unconscious. Trust me, you'll want to be."

"If you kill me, I'll come back and haunt you," Hermione groaned, but swallowed it. She hated pain. She didn't mind getting knocked out.

And mercifully, she was.

xxx

Tom checked her pulse, but it was steady. Good. For a moment, he had been worried the creature inside of her would kill her, but it seemed he had been just in time. The abortion potion had worked before the safeguards around the creature had time to fully activate. A few nasty dark curses had helped as well.

He looked at the mess he had caused. For starters, he would burn the sofa. All that blood and … well, whatever the creature had been made of. It had looked like something out of a nightmare and he wondered what on earth the point of it had been. But now it was gone and burned to dust. Granger better thank him for that.

Looking down at the unconscious girl, he decided that he had better clean them both up. She would freak out if she woke up covered in blood.

He removed her clothes with a flick of his wand, burning them all. Then he cleaned her with another. He removed his clothes as well and burned them. It was just for safety. He didn't want anything from that creature mutating from something.

He lifted her up and carried her to his bedroom. She would no doubt be easier to handle if she wasn't cold and uncomfortable when she woke up. The potion would last for another few hours still, so it was better she was in bed.

Putting her under the covers, he reflected that this was probably the most brotherly thing he had ever done for her. Tucking in his little sister.

Snorting to himself, he went to take a proper shower.

So, Loki was alive and hiding in the shape of Gabriel. He would have to interrogate Granger properly when she woke up. He wondered what Loki's plans were. Why was he teaching Tom? And why did he want to examine his own wand?

No, he probably wanted it back for some reason. Maybe there was something he could only do with that wand, or maybe he was simply nostalgic.

Then, jealousy struck him. Loki had achieved the sort of immortality that Tom had dreamt about since he was young. How had he done it? Tom would have to find out before he killed him.

Because he was quite sure he needed to kill him. He must have some plan, and Tom didn't want to compete with another Dark Wizard. He wanted to be the one in control.

After the shower, he went back into his bedroom and sat down on the bed next to the sleeping girl. He thought about the vision he had had the other day. It would make sense if Odin's runes wanted to warn them about Loki. Did Loki plan to unleash the Serpent of Midgard? Then he would want to keep him and Granger apart, which he had succeeded in doing. At least, until she had figured out who he was.

It annoyed him that she had been the one to figure it out first. But then, she had spent a lot more time with him. He would probably have figured it out sooner if he had been the one spending every night at Loki's house.

But what should he do with her now? He was still angry at Granger for disobeying him. This changed things, but she still needed to learn her place. However, perhaps that would have to wait until they had taken care of this. Granger wasn't a threat, just disobedient. The real threat was Loki.

As he waited for her to wake up, he read up on Dark Arts-induced pregnancies. He wanted to make sure there were no lasting effects of it. He had never done any himself because, well, why would he want children, no matter how magically engineered they were?

Yet, there was, surprisingly, enough literature on the subject. He guessed purebloods had tried to make the best offspring for ages. However, nothing seemed to help against inbreeding.

After a couple of hours, he felt Granger starting to stir next to him. He looked at her as she came to. She frowned at first, but then her eyes fell on him and she seemed to remember what had happened.

"Hello, how are you feeling?" he asked. The books had explained several side-effects which might be in need of healing.

Granger grimaced. "Sore and … naked? Why am I naked?"

"Expelling the foetus became bloody. I destroyed your clothes," he explained. "But I didn't think you would want me to start dressing you, so I put you under the covers."

Granger seemed very uncomfortable. "How come I'm sore, then?"

He snorted at her discomfort. "Because you had a Dark creature coming out of you."

"Right. Of course. What was that thing?"

"Can't know for sure. I burned it as soon as I could. The thing was dangerous, despite it not having been born yet."

She shivered. "I can't believe I was pregnant."

"No, if I were you, I'd rather not think about it either," he stated. "However, if you are only feeling soreness, I should scan your body again, to make sure there aren't any lasting damages."

"Fine, but get me some clothes first," she said, attempting to sit up.

Tom pushed her back. "Not so fast. Something could happen if you moved. I'll scan your body first.

Sighing, she sank back against the pillow. He ran his wand over the sheets, doing every test he could think of after what he had read in the books. Surprisingly, nothing came up.

"Strange. It seems he didn't want to harm you," Tom remarked, sitting back. From what he had read, there was always some side-effect for the women, which was why these pregnancies were almost always against the woman's will. So why had Loki cared enough to spare Granger if he didn't want her to know about it?

Or was it because he didn't want her to know about it that he had engineered it this way? Well, that would make sense; the pregnancy had progressed quickly, suggesting that the creature would have been born quickly too. Perhaps Loki planned to arrange some sort of accident for Granger where she would be unconscious for the days the pregnancy was visible?

Either way, he was sure to notice soon that something had happened to his offspring. Which meant they had to act fast.

"How did you figure out who he was?" Tom asked, summoning a shirt for her to put on.

She sat up and pulled it on. "I realised it yesterday. We were at a museum and suddenly it all just clicked. I collected his blood yesterday afternoon and performed a family tree analysis—"

"You got his blood?" Tom interrupted her in disbelief.

Granger nodded. "It's in my purse."

"He didn't notice?"

"Of course he noticed, but it's not like I told him that I was taking his blood to use it for something," Granger said, rolling her eyes.

"And he didn't ask?" Loki couldn't be that stupid.

When Granger started to blush, Tom realised what they must have been doing for Loki not to question blood being spilled.

"You fucked him? Again? After realising who he might be?"

Granger glared at him, annoyed. "I gave him a blow job. It was the only way I could think of."

"You bit his cock?"

"Sort of."

Tom stared at her. It never took him long to judge a person. Usually, he could see all he needed to know after a couple of minutes with a new person. If it was someone useful, it could take him a few days to find out everything he needed to know. As a rule, people didn't surprise him.

But it seemed like he had completely misjudged Granger in terms of what she was willing to do to get answers.

He started to laugh.

Granger glared at him. "What should we do now? Loki is dangerous."

Tom sobered up, but continued to smile. "So now it's 'we' again? I thought you wanted to work with Loki rather than me."

"That was before I realised who he was! You must also have concluded that we can only deal with Loki together. And I think we have to speed things up with the Serpent as well. I got the impression that Loki is keeping us apart so we couldn't work together on it."

"You told Loki that you plan to stop the Serpent?" Tom asked, frowning.

"He was inside my mind, he knew. Then I pretended to confide in him to get more information, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it," she said, looking quite frustrated.

Tom tilted his head, regarding her closely. It wasn't just frustration. Her gaze shifted constantly, and she was tense, flinching at every sound. She was clearly holding in a great amount of fear. But there was also anger. Her hands and jaw were clenched. It wasn't just that she wanted to stop Loki, this was personal for her.

"You are angry that he made you pregnant," he concluded.

"Of course I am," she spat. "It wasn't part of our agreement. I was supposed to help him in his plans for you! He said nothing about a baby."

An ill sense of foreboding fell over him. "Exactly how did you come to this agreement?"

Granger opened her mouth, no doubt to give an angry, sarcastic comment, when a thought seemed to hit her. She closed her mouth, becoming pale. "We performed an oath through sex."

Tom pressed his fingers against his temple, massaging it. He could feel a headache approaching. "And what did you promise? The exact wording, if you remember it."

"Er, I think I promised to help him with his plan to the best of my abilities," she responded, her voice weak.

"Why do I put up with you?" he groaned, more to himself than to her.

"I had never heard of a sex oath before," Granger argued, trying to defend herself.

"No, but you know how babies are created, and you knew that 'Gabriel' was a Dark wizard, and since you hadn't heard of sex oaths, you probably assumed it was something Dark and yet you are surprised that you ended up pregnant?" Tom asked, anger rising. He had never had the patience for fools.

Granger winced. "I had meant to read up on sex oaths afterwards, but I haven't got around to it yet…"

She trailed off and from the look of horror on her face, she seem to have finally understood the severity of the situation.

"I broke the oath," she finally whispered.

"Yes, you did."

The oath had never specified what she should or shouldn't do. For some reason, having her pregnant with that monster was a part of Loki's plan.

"What will happen?" she asked, understandably sounding fearful.

Tom sighed. "Oaths such as these are tricky. You didn't know you were breaking the oath, and he doesn't know you have broken it, so right now, nothing will happen. Once he finds out, he can demand that you follow through with it and allow him to make you pregnant again. Next time, you won't be able to do an abortion, because then you would be knowingly breaking the oath. It would kill you."

Granger seemed close to panicking, but just when he thought she would start to cry, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it in for several seconds before slowly exhaling.

"I take it he'll find out as soon as he sees me?" she asked, sounding calm again.

Tom was glad that she had such good control of her emotions, he loathed it when people started to panic when they weren't supposed to.

"It depends. If it had been a normal pregnancy, he would have had to scan you to be able to tell, but this was far from normal. My calculated guess is that he will see that something is wrong at once, so we'll work with that."

He paused, a plan starting to form in his mind.

"We can blame you," Granger suggested, before he had a chance to speak again. "You did perform the abortion after all, we could say that you saw that I was pregnant and that it went against your plans for me."

Tom was annoyed that Granger had come up with the same plan as he had. He wanted to have the upper hand. "And I'm expected to take the blame out of the goodness of my heart?"

Granger sighed. "I know you never liked Gabriel, and I doubt you want Loki around. We are doing this together and we both get something out of it."

Tom was once again reminded of the vision he had had from Odin's runes. As much as it pained him, she was right. They needed to work together and put all differences aside. However, first he wanted to know what Loki had planned.

"Very well. I have an idea on how we can do it. But first, I need you to tell me everything you have found out about Loki," Tom said. "And then, you'll have to trust me."


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people! The sun is shining outside and I'm sitting inside with the computer as it should be. As always, Ozzy is the amazing beta of this chapter so many hugs and kisses to her! I also want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, subscribed and kudos:ed this story! You make my day. 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 19**

Tom carried the unconscious Granger up the driveway to Loki's house. It was late, the sun had already set, and it was getting darker by the minute. He and Granger had planned as much as they could, until Tom's agreement with Loki kicked in. Tom expected that the other wizard would sense their arrival, and was indeed greeted by the door opening.

Loki didn't look surprised to see Tom, but his mouth was pressed together in ill-concealed displeasure.

"Don't knock up my sister," Tom said calmly, and used Granger's body to push against Loki, and let them in.

She wasn't that heavy, but carrying her for more than a couple of minutes put some strain on his arms, and he wanted to put her down somewhere soon. He dropped her on the sofa, and flexed his arms.

Loki kneeled next to the sofa and brought his wand out, starting to scan her body.

"How did you find out?" Loki asked.

"I know you have fucked. Did you honestly think you would be able to perform a pregnancy ritual without me finding out? What were you planning to create?"

Loki sighed. "Never mind that now, it's gone. Such a shame. I wasn't going to let her find out. It would have been over in another two weeks. Did you tell her?"

"Of course I did. She was quite distressed," Tom smiled. "I think you'll find it hard to lure her into your bed again."

Loki regarded Granger in silence for a moment, then he looked up at Tom again. The displeasure had left his face and been replaced by anger.

"We had an agreement," Loki snarled.

"It didn't include Granger being pregnant."

"No, but it did include me doing whatever I wished with her as long as I didn't kill her. This was harmless."

"Yes, but you only got to do what you wished with her when you had her, at night. She is pregnant all the time," Tom pointed out calmly.

Loki slowly circled the sofa and came to stand right in front of Tom. Tom crossed his arms, standing his ground. It would take a lot more than a cold, angry glare and an invasion of his personal space to intimidate him.

"Would you rather it was your heir inside her belly?" Loki asked softly.

Tom huffed. "We are Blood-siblings, no matter who fathered the child, it will be my heir."

"So that's it then? You want to approve of the father," Loki concluded. "But I wonder, will anyone be good enough for you?"

"I'm not in a hurry, she is still young," Tom responded, in the same soft tone that Loki used.

Loki chuckled and moved a hand up to Tom's face, stroking his cheek. "I know you have thought about it, Tom. No one has met your standards so far, and no one will. So how old do you think she'll be when you decide to take matters into your own hands? 25? 30? 40?"

Tom smiled back and slowly put his fingertips against Loki's chest. It still bothered him that Loki was taller than him, but he could still play the same game as Loki did.

"Do you really think the thought of fucking Granger would put me off so much that I'd allow you to do it?" It was absurd, of course. He didn't need to fuck Granger to have heirs, he could just fuck some other woman and force Granger to take care of the kid, teaching it what it needed to know. But if Loki thought he could throw Tom off guard by making him  _jealous_ , he had another thing coming.

Loki tilted his head, showing his teeth in a grin. "You know, she told me about the Serpent."

"I made her tell me everything," Tom answered, smiling as well. He had realised Loki was testing him the moment he had started to talk about his approval for fatherhood. "I know about the oath too, so don't waste my time with clever word games."

"It must annoy you that she doesn't know what I'm planning for you," Loki said fondly, stroking Tom's cheek.

"You won't live to go through with it," Tom promised, mimicking his tone.

Loki's hand came up behind his head, and the next second, his lips were pressed against Tom's. Tom returned the violent kiss and let his hands travel to Loki's back, down to the hem of his shirt. His right hand sneaked underneath the shirt and stroked the soft, warm flesh.

Then, he attacked. He pressed his hand against Loki's spine and focused on the blood curse he had prepared earlier. Loki grew stiff in his arms, and Tom removed his mouth from Loki's and let Loki's head fall against Tom's shoulder.

"You taught Hermione and me a bit too much," he whispered into Loki's ear.

He could feel Loki fighting the spell he was under, so he turned to the sofa.

"Time to wake up, Granger," he called out.

Granger groaned as she got up from the sofa. "I hate that spell."

"Yes, well, it was important that you only appeared unconscious. Now help me get him to the sofa. He is heavier than you."

Making sure to not lose contact with Loki's flesh, Tom and Granger managed to manoeuvre him onto the sofa.

"Why did you kiss him?" Granger asked, while sitting down on the sofa on the opposite side of the coffee table. "I mean, I heard kissing."

"I needed a reason to touch him," Tom stated, sitting on the edge of the sofa, and moving his hand to Loki's chest. "So when I noticed that he wanted to, I let him."

"But why would he want to kiss you?" Granger asked, clearly surprised at the notion.

"I'm a very attractive man," he reminded her, frowning as he felt a stirring underneath his hand. Loki was stronger than he had anticipated. "Give me the spear."

Granger retrieved her beaded bag from underneath her shirt and opened it, picking up Odin's spear.

"Come here," Tom ordered. "Push it through here."

He motioned with his other hand towards the area where Granger should push the spear in. It was right above the hip.

"Make sure it goes straight through, into the sofa," Tom said.

He half expected Granger to cringe at the notion of pushing a spear through the body of another person. However, her face was set in determination when she aimed and pushed the spear downwards, through the soft body. Blood welled up from the wound, but since she didn't remove it, there wasn't as much as there could have been. Once it was through, Tom removed his hand. He wouldn't have been able to keep the curse paralysing Loki much longer, but he didn't want Loki to know that.

"Helvetes jävlar förbannade—" Loki moaned, as he got his voice back. Tom didn't need to understand the words to know that he was swearing.

"That's for making me pregnant," Granger hissed at him, keeping a firm grip on the spear.

Loki took a couple of shallow breaths, then glared at Granger. "We have an agreement, Hermione. I taught you, you owe me."

"You didn't specify that the pregnancy was what I owed you," Granger growled.

"Now you know," Loki hissed back. "You owe me a child."

Tom sighed. He had feared this would happen. If he specified what he meant, Granger was bound by the oath she had taken to provide it. Well, one problem at a time.

"First you have to be capable of fathering the child," Tom reminded him sweetly. "You can't do that if you are dead."

Loki snorted, glancing at the spear. "I can't deny that it hurts, but this won't kill me."

"No, I didn't think it would. But I think that between me and Hermione, we will be able to work something out, Loki."

Loki's eyes flickered from Tom to Granger. Then he sighed. "I knew it was just a matter of time." He paused and then glanced up at Hermione again. "It wasn't an accident."

"No," Granger confirmed. Tom smiled and made a mental note to himself not to ever let Granger give anyone he needed a blow job. Especially not if she seemed eager to do it.

"I don't see why you would do all this though," Loki muttered, making a gesture towards the spear. "Haven't I been reasonable thus far?"

"You tortured me and made her pregnant," Tom reminded him.

Loki waved it away. "We are family, it's expected. I took you both in and taught you what you wanted to know. Is it strange if want something in return?"

"Yes, let's talk about what it is you want in return," Tom said, putting his wand against Loki's chest, sending out another blood curse.

Loki growled in pain, his whole body tensing. However, he didn't react as violently as Tom had hoped. He let the curse go.

"What are you planning?" Tom continued.

Loki relaxed again. Clearly, having a spear through his belly wasn't enough torture for him. Well, it had been long since Tom had a challenge. If Loki didn't talk, he had several things he wanted to try.

"I don't see why we have to be so violent about this," Loki answered, sounding bored. "I've been on the giving or receiving end of every torture known to mankind at one point or another."

"I'm very creative," Tom assured him.

Loki gave him a condescending smile. "Clearly not. If you had tried every torture there is, you would come to find that there are far better ways to get information. You catch more flies with honey, after all."

"We want to kill you," Granger said hotly, interrupting Tom before he had a chance to say anything else. "How would you suggest we get that information out of you?"

"You don't want to kill me," Loki said, looking certain of himself. "I can give you both everything you have ever wanted."

Granger snorted. "I highly doubt that, since mine and Riddle's dreams are in contradiction to each other."

"I didn't say I would help you both, just that I could," Loki responded sweetly. "You want Tom dead, Hermione. I can make it happen."

"Why would I choose you over him?" Granger asked him, face full of disbelief.

"Because I've been in the world for thousands of years, and it's still standing. Imagine what would happen if he had a thousand years. And, Tom, I can make you immortal for real," Loki said, giving him a wink. "You won't find out without me. It's not in any book. The last person besides me who knew how it was done died a very long time ago. Or rather, was killed."

"You are trying to play us off against each other again," Tom remarked tiredly. "Haven't you realised it won't work?"

"It worked wonders," Loki replied softly. "I got you to throw her out, didn't I?"

"It won't work again," Granger objected. "We know what you are up to now."

"Aren't you torturing me because you  _don't_  know what I'm up to?" Loki questioned innocently.

Granger answered by twisting the spear, making Loki groan again.

"You are quite right, of course," Tom said calmly. "Shall we get started then?"

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll pass on the torture today," Loki said.

What happened next was so fast that not even Tom could say exactly what happened. He saw Loki make a circling motion with his left index finger. Tom found himself spinning around, losing his grip on Loki. How Loki was able to do magic, he would never be quite certain about. He guessed Loki must have done something to him when they kissed. Something so insignificant that Tom hadn't even felt it at the time. Moving an object, or a person in this case, didn't require much magic. However, once Tom lost the skin-to-skin contact with Loki, the spell over him broke.

Before Tom could turn back around, he heard Granger gasp, and then the thud of something hitting the wall. Just as he managed to return to his feet, the spear hit the floor with a "clonk".

Tom withdrew his wand, but Loki was already standing, his own wand in his hand. As Tom watched, the wound in Loki's belly closed up, without leaving a trace. Behind him, Granger was getting back on her feet.

"I could kill you right now if you give me a reason to do so," Loki commented, his eyes locked on Tom. "I would prefer not to, since we are family, but you should know that it hasn't stopped me in the past."

Out of the corner of his eye, Tom could see Granger raise her wand.

"Don't," Tom told her, still looking at Loki. "He is talking to you."

Granger looked baffled, but did lower her hand.

"Come and stand next to your brother, love," Loki ordered her.

Granger sighed and slowly made her way around Loki. She still had her wand in her hand.

"So what now?" Granger asked, seemingly annoyed.

"As I see it, we are still bound by the oaths we have taken," Loki said. "I can overlook this … incident, if you two promise to behave."

Tom was disappointed that raw force hadn't been able to stop Loki. However, he had almost expected that. Thus, he already knew what he was going to do next. Granger would no doubt try to kill him for this.

He disarmed her before she had a chance to react and paralysed her. She fell down on the sofa behind them.

Loki looked at him, amused. "I thought it would be you."

"Show me how to become immortal, and I'll let you do whatever you like with her," Tom said, and he could almost feel the hatred coming from Granger behind him.

"Why am I not surprised that you are willing to throw your own sister under the bus?" Loki mused. "You must take after me."

Tom glanced back at Granger, and she was indeed looking at him with fury in her eyes. He wondered if there was any way he could safely tell her his plans. Clearly, the best way to kill Loki was to figure out how he had become immortal. He had practically said so himself. Tom had no qualms about using Loki and then killing him. But it was a risk if Loki used Granger against him again. And Loki would no doubt try to gain the upper hand in any way he could to make sure Tom didn't do exactly what he planned to do.

Well, one thing at the time. "Teach me now and I'll leave."

"Dear me, you really think it's that simple?" Loki asked condescendingly. "I can teach you, but it will take time. Quite a bit of time, from your point of view. It's not a spell or transformation. It's a higher state of magical awareness. You will first have to come to terms with the fact that everything you have learned about magic is a lie. It will be hard for you. You are old, set in your beliefs."

Tom crossed his arms. "How convenient. Let me guess, I have to travel far away on some quest which will have me occupied for years. Which will give you the time to do what you have planned to do with Hermione."

"Now that you mention it, I do think it will give me enough time, yes. But why do you care? You gave her to me."

"I care if you go back on your promise to make me immortal," Tom replied calmly.

"Of course."

Loki gave him no warning. He didn't move a single muscle, and yet, Tom could feel the magic creeping up around him, suffocating him. He slashed with his wand, trying to get loose from whatever it was. Yet, when he aimed at Loki, nothing seemed to touch him. The lack of air was making him panic. His survival instincts had always been strong. He tried to run away, anything to get away from the magic. But something made him stumble, and he fell to the floor.

xxx

Hermione couldn't see what had happened to Riddle, but one minute, he started to make strange noises and the next, she heard something heavy hit the floor. The spell she was under dissolved, and she flew up, wand out, ready to hex the backstabbing son-of-a-bitch she unhappily called her brother.

She was disappointed to see that Riddle was already unconscious, but sent a stinging hex for good measure. He didn't move.

"If it's any consolation, I do think he meant to save you once he became immortal," Loki said, reminding her that Riddle was far from her biggest problem.

Turning towards him, she lowered her wand, but kept it firmly in her hand. "Just so he could use me."

"Doubtless. Just as you were using him. And I was using you," Loki remarked softly.

"So now what?" she asked. She knew that she didn't stand a chance against him in a duel, and she wasn't sure how on earth she could manipulate her way out of this. The only thing she could think of was keeping her head cool.

"I enjoy doing business with you much more than I like doing business with him," he responded. "I would offer to take you away to some far off country where we could start a new life together, but you don't want that, do you?"

"I still have to take care of the Serpent," she spat. "Or are you offering to help me with that?"

He sighed. "Catastrophes happen all the time. They did long before you were born, and will continue to do so long after you are dead. Why bother?"

"Because I care," Hermione answered, getting aggravated as well as scared. Did Loki really intend for the Serpent to rise? "I can't control things that happened before I was born, but I can and will do my very best to change things for the better while I live, for me and my friends. You should try it."

"Why would I, when chaos is so amusing? And who told you that you are the one that has to take care of everyone else's problems? I can give you a very good life. Hell, tell me who your friends are, and I'll save them too, so you won't have to miss them."

It became perfectly clear to Hermione that Loki wasn't going to change his mind. Well, neither was she.

Her defiance must have been visible on her face because Loki sighed. "Take your brother and leave Sweden. You may want me dead, but luckily for you, I don't share the sentiment."

"That's it?" Hermione asked in disbelief, suddenly side-tracked from her worries of the Serpent. "I thought you said I owed you a child and all that?"

"Ah, yes," he said, suddenly smiling. "Well, you have until you hit menopause to find me and beg me to inseminate you. If you find yourself infertile before that … well, you'll die. But maybe the Serpent will kill you before that happens…"

His comment made her furious, but before Hermione had time to say another word, Loki aimed his wand at the magical wardrobe next to him. It disappeared.

"Goodbye for now, Hermione. It has been a pleasure." He made a mock bow, and with that, he disappeared. No sound was made as he left, like during a normal Disapparation, he simply vanished.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Like it! Miya sleep now! Ozzy is a great friend and beta and I want to marry her.

**Chapter 20**

Hermione stared at the spot where Loki had disappeared. What had he meant about the Serpent killing her? Did he think she would fail in her mission to stop it? Or, the fear inside her grew, was he planning to wake it up himself? He had said that chaos was amusing, after all…

Hermione looked around the living room and tried to decide what she should do first. Search the house? No, Loki had taken his magical wardrobe; she doubted there was anything else in the house he would care about her finding.

Her eyes fell on the still unconscious Riddle. Should she kill him now when she had the chance? She was still furious that he had tried to sell her off to Loki again.

Alas, her most important mission was to care of the Serpent. Loki hadn't said he would try and awaken it; just that he didn't plan on stopping it. But just in case he did, she had to deal with the Serpent now and cast the spells.

She knew the spell perfectly, but she couldn't control serpents the way it needed to be done. If there was a chance that Loki would try to awaken the Serpent, she would need Riddle to do it.

Sighing, she went over to him and kicked him, not too gently, on the hip. He woke up with a groan, fumbling for his wand.

"He's gone," Hermione said coldly, Riddle's wand safe in her pocket. Just because she needed him didn't mean she had to trust him. "Get up, we need to leave for the South Pole immediately."

"Where is my wand?" Riddle asked, pushing himself to his feet.

"You can have it back later. We need to stop the Serpent."

Riddle rolled his eyes. "So I've been told. But—"

"No, we need to do it now. I think Loki is planning to unleash it," Hermione said, urgency in her voice. Riddle didn't want to world to end either, after all.

He did look taken aback. "What happened after I passed out?"

"Loki offered to save me from the upcoming Apocalypse. I declined. He told us to leave Sweden and since we have to stop the Serpent, we will," Hermione summarised.

Riddle looked at her weirdly. "You mean he actually said that he would unleash the Serpent? Why now?"

Hermione frowned. "No, he didn't say he would, he just hinted that he was willing to save me from it."

"All that really says is that he has a poor taste in women," Riddle remarked, and before Hermione had a chance to object, he continued. "But he didn't actually say he would wake it up, then?"

"No, but he said that he would enjoy the chaos it would bring," Hermione said, not understanding why Riddle was playing twenty questions with her. They had to move!

"Huh. Then it's probably more likely that he can't wake it up, he just wants to stop us from putting it to sleep again," Riddle concluded.

Hermione was forced to agree that his conclusion sounded reasonable. Salazar had told her that it was the wizards of Asgard who had put the Serpent under the spell, not Loki. It was possible that the wizards had put up wards around the Serpent so Loki wouldn't be able to awaken it himself. Just stop others from attempting it. However, if worse came to worst, they had entrusted the safeguarding of the world to the only people who could control it: Loki's descendants.

Then Hermione remembered something else Salazar had said. "Loki has been teaching you spells to make you stronger, magically!"

Riddle frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Salazar told me that the Serpent was sensitive to the magic of Loki's descendants. You and me. It started to wake up now because of the war you started! And now Loki has made you even stronger! I didn't think it made sense for him to teach you all of that, but what if he had done it so that the Serpent will feel it and wake up faster?"

Worry flashed through Riddle's eyes. "Right. I guess we have to move fast, then."

But then he suddenly paused, looking thoughtful. "Why is it so important for him that we leave Sweden, though? Loki told you to leave the country."

Hermione sighed. "I don't know and I don't care. We can figure that out after we have stopped the world from ending. Now let's go!"

When Riddle still didn't seem inclined to leave, Hermione's patience disappeared. She grabbed his arm and Apparated them both back to Riddle's flat. The moment they landed, Riddle pulled his arm back from her.

"Granger," he growled. "He is clearly hiding something from us here, we should search his place and—"

"No," she interrupted. "We will do what we said we'd do when we left Hogwarts. We'll stop the Serpent. I'll do the enchantment, and you'll speak to it. Then we'll go our separate ways."

Riddle crossed his arms. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Hermione hissed, withdrawing her wand. "It's clear that you hold no regard for me whatsoever, and I'll not spend one second longer than necessary with you."

"While that is true, I believe we had an agreement," Riddle said, his voice getting a threatening edge.

"Loki is about to end the world, you bloody stupid flobberworm!" Hermione bellowed. "Our agreement doesn't matter if we are both dead!"

Riddle's wand had twitched, but after staring at her for a couple of seconds, he suddenly relaxed. "I highly doubt I will die. Though it seems likely that you will, so very well. I will help you. On one, no, two conditions."

Hermione stared at him. How could he be negotiating now? Well, he was a stubborn bastard so it was better to just get it over with. "What?"

"Before we leave Sweden, we'll go back to Odin's grave," he said, and then held up a finger when Hermione opened her mouth to stop him. "And, two, once we have saved the world, you'll let me prepare you to find Loki again so he can inseminate you."

Her mouth fell open in shock. "What?"

Riddle shrugged. "You were the one who made a sex oath with Loki, and he has told you what he is expecting of you. So unless you wish to die in some twenty, thirty years, once you hit menopause, you will agree to this."

"And you don't think that a better course of action would be to find a way out of the oath?" Hermione wondered, aggravated. "I didn't think you would be so eager to do something Loki wanted."

Riddle looked at her in a patronising way. "Very well, first I will lend you some literature about sex oaths, so you can comprehend how utterly fucked you are. Pun intended."

She glared at him. "I agree to go to Odin's grave, and I'll read your books about sex oaths, but I'll deal with this pregnancy-issue myself."

He crossed his arms. "Then good luck stopping the Serpent without me."

"Riddle!" she exclaimed. "You will die!"

He huffed. "No I won't."

"Yes you will, because I'll personally kill you!"

He snorted. "No you won't."

"I'll get the Serpent to help me," Hermione muttered darkly.

Riddle looked very unimpressed. "Unless you can come up with an actual threat, will you agree so we can get started? I do believe we were on a tight schedule."

Deciding that she would just have to kill him once the Serpent was taken care of, Hermione nodded.

"I will need my wand back," Riddle said, holding out his hand.

Growling, she handed it to him, but held her wand ready for defence. She wouldn't put it past him to try and curse her for taking his wand in the first place.

Riddle, however, didn't do anything but walk into the bedroom. Perhaps he had seen that she was ready and was just waiting for an opening, or he was more concerned about the Serpent than he let on. Either way, Hermione followed.

"There, all packed," Riddle said, after collecting all his things with a swish of his wand. "Let's go."

This time, he Apparated them.

They landed with a crack at the same place they had landed the last time, and quickly made their way down to the burial mound. Ignoring all the Muggles that were wandering around, admiring the burial mounds, they came to the magical opening and stepped through. Hermione got the same feeling of bafflement she had every time she went on to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. How could Muggles not see them disappear? But there were no cries of surprise coming from behind them, thus, she thought they were safe.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked, as Riddle started to walk around inside the grave.

"I'm not—" Riddle began, but was interrupted by another voice.

"You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?" Loki had appeared at the opening, looking grim.

Hermione groaned, and withdrew her wand. When Riddle had mentioned wanting to go here, she had suspected that he wanted to do it because he thought Loki didn't want them to come here. Because she had suspected as much. It seemed she had been right.

"Meddlesome kids," Loki said, with a sigh, raising his hands.

Knowing that he intended to kill them, Hermione conjured up the strongest shield she could think of. But would it be enough? At the other side of Odin's grave, Riddle attacked.

The next few things happened very quickly. When Hermione's shield took effect, she felt something very strange happen. Suddenly, it dissolved and a thin white light appeared in Odin's casket, hitting her straight in the chest. At the same time, Loki stopped the curse Riddle had sent, and sent his own towards Riddle. Riddle threw himself behind the casket, evading the curse, and rolled over to her side. He had just managed to get into a sitting position when Hermione fell backwards.

The white light had made her lose all control over her body. She fell right into Riddle's chest, and he let out an "oomph!".

Fear filled her, as she felt her mouth opening of its own accord. She could feel something else inside her body, something foreign.

"Loki," she said, but it wasn't her who said it. The voice sounded a bit like hers, but raspier. It was Odin. She wasn't sure how she could tell, but she could.

"Oh fucking fantastic," Loki muttered, and Hermione could see him conjuring up a shield of his own.

Still with no control over her body, she felt herself move to her feet. "You haven't changed, little brother. Still trying to kill your own kin."

"When you have a hobby you are really good at, why change it?" Loki replied.

Inside her, she could feel Odin ignoring the remark. "But you won't kill these two. Not today. They have a mission to complete."

"So I've heard. Heimdall's mission to Narfi's offspring. But how do you expect them to succeed? You can't protect them once they leave this mound, and they can't stop my darling from inside here."

Inside her head, she could hear chanting begin in a language she didn't understand. Yet, just as she had sensed that this was Odin, she sensed what he was meaning to do. It was a banishing spell.

Her arm rose, and magic much more powerful than what she was used to flew out, shattering Loki's shield and hitting him straight in the chest. An expression of anger flashed across his face, before he disappeared.

"Go now, children," Odin said through her. "Loki will be back, but I cannot say if it will be tomorrow or next moon. He was well-versed in travelling between the realms in my days. He will find a way back."

"Can you tell us how to kill him?" Riddle had got to his feet again as well, and was standing next to her.

"We thought we killed him in my days," Odin said, and Hermione felt a deep sorrow flash through her. "His revenge was horrible. He killed me and many with me. Heimdall managed to sever his head from his body in the end. But it appears he survived that as well."

Odin paused and looked at Riddle. "But everything and everyone dies in the end. So will Loki. Come back here, once you have put the Serpent to rest again. Together, I believe we will find a way."

Odin's presence left Hermione's body. She would have fallen if Riddle hadn't caught her.

She took a couple of deep breaths before she was able to stand on her own. She felt shaky, but strangely alert.

"Let's go," she finally said. "We have a Serpent to take care of."

For once, Riddle didn't argue with her.

xxx

Tom procured a flying carpet for them and put his own spells on it to make it fly fast and safe. It would be impossible to Apparate all the way to the South Pole, and they would need to have some place to dive from. The carpet wouldn't be washed away by the currents.

He knew plenty of transfigurations, magical plants and potions that would enable them to survive in such deep waters, but as they prepared themselves for departure, he wasn't sure which one he should use. Gillyweed was good since it would make their bodies adapt completely to life under water, but the downside was that they would have to eat it every hour. If they ran into trouble, it could be hard to clock it. A transfiguration had the same effect, but was hard to do. He knew he could do it, but he didn't think Granger would be able to pull it off. It was highly advanced magic, and even if she could learn it, it would take too much time, and the risks of something going wrong were too great. Every other, smaller transfiguration and spell wouldn't be able to last so deep down in the ocean.

That left the option of potions. They didn't have time to brew the one they needed, but Tom knew just who to steal from to get it. A quick detour to London, and then they were on their way on the carpet, across the Atlantic Ocean.

"Merlin, I hate flying," Granger groaned. She was sitting in the middle of the carpet, making sure she couldn't look down on either side.

Tom filed away that useful information of her weakness and then continued going through his bag. The Merepotion would let them live comfortably underwater for days, surviving both pressure and cold, but there was still the problem of defence and possibly food. The locator spell Granger knew told them that they would have to travel almost four miles down into the ocean. Even with the Merepotion, it would be tiresome to travel that far and it would easily take them several hours. If they ran into trouble, it would take even longer.

They knew there were dangerous and poisonous things in the ocean, but what would they encounter? He was sure he could defend himself against the more obvious threats, like big fishes with large teeth, but even the smaller creatures in the ocean could be potentially lethal.

Hopefully, there would be few creatures that could cause magical problems down there. Wizards had been able to explore the ocean a lot more than Muggles had, but the general consensus was that few magical creatures liked to live in the deeper parts of the ocean. But then again, no one had discovered the Serpent, so who knew?

During their three hour flight, he read up on all possible spells they could need. Some of them were standard, but he did find a nifty repellent spell that would keep almost all magical mer-creatures away. After having cast that over them, he was confident that they were ready. It would only take standard attack spells to repel normal creatures.

He looked at Granger who was stubbornly staring into a bowl of water. Slytherin had shown her how to locate the Serpent, and they had agreed that she would give the directions.

"Stop," Granger finally said.

Tom lowered the carpet until they were just a few inches above the water surface. It was night, which it almost always was this close to the South Pole at this time of the year. Only the moon lit up the water around them. It was strangely unnerving to be surrounded by that much water. The closest land was Antarctica, which was over thirty miles south of them. If something went wrong— No, nothing would go wrong. He was Lord Voldemort. He always survived.

"We had better start," he said, and removed his cloak. "This will be troublesome as it is, without having to worry about Loki showing up."

Granger nodded and removed her own cloak. He could see her shiver from the cold. He had placed a heating charm over the carpet, but that was hardly enough in this weather. Thankfully, they should be comfortable enough once they had taken the potion and got into the water.

They stripped down to their underwear and packed their clothes in his bag. He handed her a bottle, and she took it, her hand shaking. He wondered if it was just the cold, or if she was nervous as well. He hoped the former; he had no patience for comforting a scared girl.

Luckily for her, she didn't do anything but drink the potion in one go. He did the same, grimacing slightly. It tasted as salty as the ocean around them smelt. Even the texture reminded him of salt water, leaving his mouth dry.

Granger let out a gasp as her body quickly began to transform. Her skin turned green-blue and scaly, her feet started growing and skin started to form between her toes. He could feel the same thing happening to himself, and almost dropped his wand when skin began to grow between his fingers.

Retaining the grip on his wand, he made the carpet underneath them vanish into his bag, and they fell into the water with a huge splash. Granger let out a shriek in surprise, but it was cut short when they went under the water.

Tom quickly found his bearings. With the potion having finished doing its work, it felt as natural to be under the water as it usually felt being on land. His eyes quickly adapted to the darkness and the water and his wand seemed to function as well. However, now it also let out bubbles when he lighted the tip.

Granger seemed to have a bit more trouble getting herself together. Her hair kept getting in her eyes, and silent curses came out of her mouth in the shape of bubbles. He could still understand what she was saying, though.

Rolling his eyes, he swam over to her and grasped her hair, tying it together at the nape of her neck with a spell. That should last the rest of their journey.

"Thanks," Granger muttered.

"You're welcome," he said. "Shall we begin descending, then?"

Granger glanced downwards. Even with their adjusted eyesight and Tom's lit wand, they weren't able to see more than a few feet downwards. The water beyond that lay dark and foreboding.

"Yes," Granger said, lighting her wand as well. "Let's get this over with."


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the second to last chapter! It's been such a fun story to write, and interesting to focus on something other than ships. Though, my next story will probably be Tomione for real. If you can't stand the wait for that, you can check out the story I wrote for the exchange we had at Gutter City a few weeks ago. It's a Volmione called Curse of the Unicorn and you can find it on my account!
> 
> Many thanks to everyone who have read, reviewed, bookmarked and kudos:ed this story! And, as always, special thanks to Ozzy for betaing!

 

**Chapter 21**

At first, Hermione had felt afraid of being down in the water, on their way to the Serpent of the World. But after an hour of swimming, she was quickly growing both tired and bored. They had seen plenty of fishes, but all of them had hurried in some other direction when they had come closer, due to their repelling spell.

Riddle didn't say much, but Hermione could see that he was keeping a watchful eye on the darkness around them. She wasn't sure what he was expecting, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know either. Her knowledge of ocean life, magical and mundane, was limited. Yet, she guessed, that judging from the size of the ocean, it was possible that they wouldn't encounter anything dangerous at all. Except the Serpent that was.

No, she was getting more worried about what would happen once they had taken care of the Serpent. Loki was a big threat, but hopefully they would be able to defeat him with Odin's help.

However, Riddle was also trouble. Even Slytherin had thought as much. She didn't want a third war to start. Riddle would most likely go after Harry again, and then the whole thing would start anew.

The best case scenario would be if Loki just managed to kill Riddle before they killed him. But she couldn't count on that. Loki had to be stopped.

Even though she hadn't experienced firsthand what Loki could do to the world, it was clear that he enjoyed chaos. Letting the Serpent run amok? Even Riddle was easier to deal with. So it looked like she would have to deal with one bad thing at a time. The Serpent, Loki, and then Riddle.

And alongside, she had to make sure she wasn't killed, or broke any sex oaths...

"Look out!" Riddle suddenly shouted, aiming his wand at something behind her.

She managed to swim around just in time to see the biggest fish ever come at them. Its teeth were long and narrow, and its mouth big enough to swallow them whole. It was enough to make Hermione cast the first spell she could think of: " _Impendimenta_!"

Riddle had fired a curse just before she did, and their combined power made the fish shoot several yards backwards into the water, into the darkness.

Hermione stared at the direction it had disappeared into. "Do you think we got it?"

Riddle was gazing the same way. "Yes. I think we killed it. But you should keep an eye out as well. There is probably more than one of those down here."

The adrenaline enabled Hermione to move faster than she had before. "How did you even hear that thing?"

"I sensed it," he replied

"How?"

"There aren't a lot of living things down here. If you were paying more attention, you would have been able to sense it too."

Hermione scowled, but didn't reply. After all, she hadn't been paying attention. But now she focused on her surroundings.

It was hard to explain the sensation of being in the water, surrounded by nothing else. On land, there was always some movement or sound. Down here, it was a lot more tranquil, despite their adapted hearing. It was eerie.

They had been swimming for another hour when she finally sensed it. It was something huge and alive, but unmoving. The only light came from their wands, and they were almost upon it by the time they had spotted it.

Dark grey, scaly skin that almost merged into the colour of the ocean floor. A huge, grey mane, like a dragon's, sticking out from its back. And a head so enormous it almost looked like a small mountain.

Hermione suddenly understood the ramifications of this thing leaving its place at the bottom of the ocean. It could destroy a small country in a matter of minutes.

There was no way to see its entire head, but Hermione recalled the images from the scrying. Somewhere, not far away from them, lay its tail. Considering the length of the thing, it was probably quite tiny in girth. But she still felt sick looking at it. It was not just scary, but it felt … wrong. Unnatural.

"And just think, you fucked its father," Riddle muttered to her.

Hermione snapped out of her shock of seeing Jörmungandr in actuality, and smacked his arm. Riddle snickered. How could he not be fearful of this thing?

Then again, he had done his fair share of destruction. He probably just felt the family bonds.

Slightly disgusted, she raised her wand. "Okay, let's do this. You'll command it to sleep, and I'll perform the spell."

"Very well. On three. One, two…"

They began. She went through the wand movements, one after another, while chanting the spell Salazar had taught her. The movements were actually easier to do in the water. Like it was meant to be performed down here. She had never felt so graceful before.

At the same time, she could hear Riddle speak in Parseltongue next to her.

" _Go back to sleep, brother Serpent, for the world is a boring place. Go back to the land of dreams, where you can eat humans all day."_

Even though the words weren't that important, as long as the command was for it to fall asleep, Hermione felt quite put off by Riddle's choice of words. Did he want the Serpent to wake up one day, eager for some human flesh? Well, she would just stop him as well, if it came to that.

They finished the spell, light and bubbles coming out of their respective wands. Hers were in light blue, while his were in green. They flew through the water, hitting the Serpent. For a moment, the whole body shimmered in a soft turquoise light, then it seemed to have been absorbed into the body.

Hermione held her breath for a moment, waiting for something more to happen. Had the spell worked? How would they know? The Serpent hadn't been moving or anything before.

But then she saw it. The body seemed to sink lower into the ground, as if it was relaxing. The giant head trembled and fell to its side, creating such a big wave that it sent Hermione and Riddle backwards. She let out a yelp in surprise and grabbed Riddle's arm.

This was probably good, because by the time they came to a stop, the Serpent had disappeared from view.

"Well, that was that," Riddle said, pulling his arm away from her grip, making the light at the tip of his wand brighter again.

Hermione nodded, unsure of how to feel. It had been easier than she had thought. And at the same time, she had a horrible sense of foreboding. Jörmungandr might have been put to sleep, but there were still two Serpents to take care of, as far as she was concerned.

But she couldn't worry about that right now. They still had to make it back to the surface and she would rather not be surprised by any other long-toothed fish.

She and Riddle had been swimming towards the surface again for almost an hour, when Hermione got the feeling that someone was watching them. She glanced behind, but all she saw was a small fish, hardly big enough to do any damage.

Hold on. The fish was quite small. Didn't small fish usually swim in streams? And why was it following them? The other small fish they had seen had hurried away when they had come closer.

It was gleaming like silver in the light of their wands, and as she looked at it, the silver began to flicker faster.

"Riddle," she said in warning, stopping completely and turning around.

Riddle spun around in the water just as the fish reached them. Though, it wasn't a fish anymore. It had transformed into Loki.

"You two seem just hell-bent on ruining all my fun," Loki said with a sigh, bubbles escaping his mouth, voice still clear. She wasn't sure what spell or potion he had used to breathe underwater, but he seemed to be at as much ease here as he was on land.

"You're too late," Hermione said. "The Serpent is asleep again, and will stay so for the next few hundred years."

"So it would appear," Loki said casually. "Oh well, I can wait. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I can do. Like killing you."

Hermione felt Riddle grab her shoulder, just as she had cast a protective spell over herself. She wasn't sure what happened next. Loki must have cast some spell, because there was a flash as something collided with her shield. However, Riddle did something else which caused them both to fly backwards through the water, up towards the surface, at a terrible speed.

Did Riddle know a spell to move faster through water? How come he hadn't used it before this then? It would have saved them a lot of swimming!

They broke through the surface, but their movements didn't stop. Instead, Riddle whisked her up into his arms and they rose into the air. Hermione let out a scream in terror as the dark ocean fell away from them. She hated heights! What if he dropped her?

"Open my bag and summon the carpet," Riddle told her, his voice sounding strained. She realised he must be using a lot more energy and strength than usual. To what end, she wasn't sure.

Not wanting to fall back into the ocean due to any wrong movement, and neither wanting Riddle to faint from exhaustion, she slowly turned in his arms, opening the bag hanging over his shoulder.

" _Accio carpet_ ," she said, her voice as weak as she felt.

The carpet unfolded in the air and Riddle sat down on it. It continued to move through the air at a faster speed than before, but Riddle seemed relieved to be rid of her weight.

"How did you do that?" Hermione couldn't stop herself from asking. Being on a somewhat solid surface again made her fear slightly easier to handle, and she could afford to be amazed.

"I absorbed the energy from the magic you and he caused, channelling it into another spell to make us move faster. We have to get to Odin before he does," Riddle stated, and opened his bag again. "We have to take the antidote for the potion, though, otherwise we will start to feel faint soon from being out of the water."

They both swallowed the antidote, and Hermione could feel her body returning to normal. At once, she began to shiver due to the cold water still clinging to her, and it was only on the second try that she managed to summon her clothes and put them on.

"Help me strengthen the flying spell," Riddle urged her. "We have to move faster if we are to beat Loki to the grave."

Forcing her fear aside, Hermione sat up straight and did as he asked. The acceleration made her almost lose her breath. Underneath her, the water swished by and before she knew it, they were above land again. How they could move so quickly, she had no idea. It shouldn't be possible. Even though it was theoretically possible, it required enormous magical strength. Were she and Riddle really that powerful together?

They must be, because not even an hour had passed when they began to slow down, finally coming to a halt over the familiar grave of Odin.

She turned around to express her surprise to Riddle, only to have to catch him when he almost fell off the carpet. His face was ashen with exhaustion.

"Let's go," he hissed, pushing away from her, and starting to make his way inside the grave. He was breathing hard.

So it seemed even Tom Riddle had his limits when it came to magic. How on earth were they going to fight Loki if he was this tired? She knew she wouldn't be able to do it alone! Why had he pushed himself so hard? Or was he counting on Odin sending Loki away again?

She hurried after him and reached the coffin before Riddle.

"Odin?" she asked, uncertain if the skeleton could hear her. Did she have to touch it? She decided that it was best to try.

It the years that came, Hermione would try to remember exactly what had happened when she had touched Odin's skull. But there was no real chronological sequence to the event. What she managed to conclude was that the first time she had been in contact with Odin, he must have used Legilimency on both her and Riddle, because there was no way he could have known all the things that suddenly sprung to her mind. Odin had a plan. A finished plan that would take care of all her problems. He didn't tell her as much as planted the complete idea of the plan in her mind. It was so obvious that she wasn't certain if it hadn't been her own plan all along, but Odin had just speeded up her thought process. There was a way she could fix this.

The realisation flooded her with relief and determination. She could fix this.

When the contact between them broke, she felt as if hours had passed, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Riddle had pulled her back.

"What?" she asked, still dazed with the idea she had got. It was a brilliant plan, but the problem would be to execute it.

"We do this together," Riddle said sternly, watching her with suspicion. "Did he tell you something?"

"Yes," Hermione said, knowing it would be pointless to lie to him. "Yes, he knows how Loki can be killed, we just have to—"

"Oh, no, no spoilers, please," came the oh-so-familiar voice from the entrance of the tomb. "I can't wait to see how you think you can make your way out of this one."

Loki giggled as he made his way up to them. "But first things first."

He held out his hand over the coffin, and the earth beneath it opened up, swallowing the coffin whole.

Knowing that this would be the only distraction, Hermione grabbed Riddle's hand, spun them around, and Disapparated. As soon as she had got her bearings, she did it again, and then one more time.

When they landed the third time, she sank to the ground and threw up. Next to her, she could hear Riddle doing the same thing. This was one of the reasons why no one advised you to Apparate more than once in a row. The risk of Splinching increased every time, and it was very disorienting. But it had been her only chance. And Odin's confidence in her made her think she could do it. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have dared to try it.

"Come on, come on," she muttered to Riddle, forcing herself to stand up. She grabbed him and forced him forwards, through the gates and into the zone where it was impossible to Apparate and Disapparate.

"Where—" Riddle stopped abruptly. Even in the darkness he had clearly recognised where she had brought them.

Hogwarts.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! Ozzy is the awesome person who betaed this! For longer A/N, see the epilogue.

**Chapter 22**

"No!" Riddle growled, pushing her away. Hermione understood his fear. The banishing spell he had used on Slytherin must have run its course by now, just as it had when Odin had used it on Loki.

He started to make his way back to the entrance. Hermione grabbed him again, trying to keep him on Hogwarts' ground. He was still tired from the flight, after all.

Though, she should probably have guessed that Riddle's survival instincts always gave him extra power.

He pulled out his wand and she flew several yards backwards. Groaning in pain, she tried to get back on to her feet. For this plan to work, she needed Riddle at Hogwarts. Otherwise, she could never hope to stop him. He would disappear until he was ready to regain his power and she'd no doubt be the first one on his kill list.

She pulled up her bag, opened it and muttered, " _Accio Strengthening Potion_!"

It was yet another detail that Odin had planted in her brain when he had told her the plan to take down Loki. From everything she knew about Loki, she wouldn't have drunk the potion without Odin's reassurance. It was a Strengthening Potion, but it had some special properties. Thankfully, they were all properties she would need now, desperately.

The moment she drank it, she felt power surge through her body. She flew up and raced towards Riddle. The strength made her ten times faster than normal. Since she wasn't used to that, she slammed into Riddle, and he flew a few yards back, landing on his arse.

Before he had the time to get up again, Hermione aimed her wand at him. " _Stupefy_!"

He sank down, unconscious. Excellent. One less problem. But now came the real test.

Just as she had thought that, Loki stepped into the grounds. He must have seen what she had done, because he smiled. "This will be no challenged if you start trying to kill each other."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder, towards the castle. Had anyone noticed that they were there?

Loki followed her gaze. "Ah, so that's why you came here. You think they will come and help you. Well, I suppose I can kill them too."

"No!" Hermione gasped, not even trying to hide her fear. So many things could go wrong at this stage. It was a gamble being this close to the people she cared about, but it was the only way the plan would work.

"You should have thought of that before you came here," Loki told her, kneeling next to her.

"Perhaps if I make you scream loudly enough, they'll come."

"No, please don't hurt them," she pleaded. "I'll do anything."

"You are hardly in a position to bargain, my dear."

"I'll do it," she said quickly. "The sex-oath. I'll go through with it. If you kill me, you won't have anyone else from your bloodline to get a child with. Surely that would be better than killing some students?"

Loki's expression changed. Instead of gleefully evil, he became thoughtful. "You do have a point. However, you have forgone the right to just be pregnant for a few weeks. This time, you'll carry it until you love it. All nine months."

"Of course," she whispered. Odin had known Loki would react like this. Loki liked to emotionally bind people to himself. He had tried to do that before, now he would try to bind her to him with a baby.

The Strengthening Potion had made her fertile as well. It must have been Loki's back up plan, in case she found out about the first baby. Make her drink the potion, kill Riddle, and then be ready to celebrate with Loki.

"And you won't know if it's normal or not," Loki added, his hand coming out, stroking her face. "Or if the next one is."

"Next one?" she asked in surprise.

"Why would I just let you go after you have given me one child, when I can keep you for the rest of your life?"

She trembled, she hadn't counted on this. "But the oath … I only owe you one child."

"Ah, but the next one you'll carry of your own free will," he kneeled, his hand moving down to the opening of her robe.

She exhaled in relief. That was fine. "Okay."

He chuckled. "What did you think? That I'd take out another sex-oath? Threatening something like that twice is boring, Hermione."

Yes, Odin had said that he would think so. Loki was nothing if not innovative. He didn't like to do the same thing, the same way, twice.

"Will you kill him first?" Hermione asked, nodding towards Riddle who still hadn't moved.

"Oh, so that's what you are hoping for? That I take care of him first. No, I think not. I think I'll take advantage of your willingness to please me right here and now." He ripped open her cardigan.

Hermione let out a whimper. She didn't look forward to this part of the plan, but she was amazed by how Loki had done everything she and Odin had predicted. It seemed like all men were just as easy to manipulate when it came to matters concerning their cocks.

"Don't be like that, love," Loki murmured, leaning in to kiss her. "You know I'm good. I'll make you enjoy it this time too."

Hermione closed her eyes as his mouth came upon hers. This was it. If she were to survive this and take down Loki, she couldn't enjoy herself too much, but just enough to fool him. Therefore, she tried to push the fear of the plan failing as far back as possible. She also had to push the fear of it succeeding as far back as possible. She needed to relax. If she wanted to come out of this alive, she needed to do this. Sacrifice herself again for the greater good. But becoming a single mother was a small price to pay to take down two Dark Wizards.

She brought her hands up to his head, stroking his hair, accepting the kiss. He purred in approval, making her lie down on the hard ground. Her hands were still trembling. She forced herself to relax. It was just sex. She had done it before. Just sex.

His lips moved away from her mouth and down to her chin and throat, paying extra attention to the places where she was the most sensitive. But it didn't feel right this time. No matter how much she needed to do this, she didn't like having to do it with someone as evil and twisted as Loki.

His mouth reached her breasts. He lifted them out of the cups of her bra, licking and sucking the nipples. She tried to think of something arousing. Anything. This wasn't Loki, it was the soon-to-be-dead father of her child. A child she had decided to love, no matter what. For that child, she would enjoy this.

She started to think of the romance books she used to borrow from her mother, when she was home during the summer and had run out of text books to read. This setting would have been perfect for that. A passionate tumble with a handsome stranger she had just met.

He had moved down her belly and was now undoing her trousers, pulling them off and throwing them to the side. She spread her legs for him at his urging, pretending she was the lady of a mansion and he was the sexy stable boy.

Thankfully, he made it easier for her when he started to lick her cunt. He found her clitoris fast and sucked on the nub until it was hard. Finally, she began feeling her own lubrication start to form. This would work.

Apparently deciding that it would be enough foreplay, he moved up her body again. He positioned his cock at her opening and thrust forward with a grunt.

Hermione whimpered in discomfort, but forced the muscles of her lower body to relax. He didn't seem to care either way. She got the feeling he wanted to be over with this as soon as possible as well. Perhaps he was worried about getting noticed, or about Riddle waking up. Either way, it worked in her favour.

Soon, she could do it. Odin believed in her, even though she had never attempted the spell, only been the victim of it.

Loki's thrusts became erratic and she knew it was time. He was coming, filling her with his seed which would make her pregnant and thus fulfil her part of the sex-oath. Her life would be saved.

She put her hands against the ground and started to pull the magic from him. It was only possible since he was attempting to use magic inside her, manipulating the DNA of the child. She mentally and magically grabbed that connection, and drew it into her own body, and then out again, into the earth. Loki was much too powerful for her to try and gather the magic inside herself, as Riddle had done with her magic. Odin had warned her against that.

But it was possible to act only as a channel and give the magic to something strong enough to contain it. Something that was magical and already running on the magic of thousands of now dead wizards and witches.

Something like Hogwarts.

She couldn't exactly tell how she knew, but she could feel the wards around Hogwarts strengthening with the addition of Loki's powers. He contained a lot more than any mortal wizard could ever hope to have. But then, he wasn't a mortal wizard. He wasn't a wizard at all anymore, but just a creature held together by magic. Like Salazar, in a way, but much stronger and not contained to just one place.

He collapsed on top of her, moaning in agony, but she didn't let that distract her. She had to get it all out.

She lost all sense of time. All she was aware of was the magic and the connection to him. He was starting to become lighter, both physically and magically. His body was so infused with magic that without it, he couldn't exist. Not even a little bit. He was disappearing from the world until all that remained were the clothes he had been wearing.

Once it was all gone, and Loki was no more, she passed out from the effort.

xxx

When Tom came to, he was deeply unhappy to recognise Slytherin's room in the Chamber of Secret. He felt around for his wand, but it was gone. He could guess who had taken it, but there were still a lot of things he didn't understand. He hated not understanding.

Sitting up, he was even more displeased to see his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, sitting on the bed next to an unconscious (dead?) Granger. Well, that explained why he was lying on the floor. Of course darling Hermione got the bed.

"Tom," Slytherin greeted him, looking very displeased.

"Please tell me she is dead," he asked.

"She's not. I never thought a former Muggle-born would outdo my own heir, but it seems she has excelled in more areas than one. I'd kill you on the spot, but I guess you know I can't do that."

Tom smirked. So his little anchor spell was working? He had wanted to do some more tests before he was certain, but this was the first good news of the day. Slytherin couldn't take away the body he had created for Tom.

"I guess I'll take my leave then," Tom drawled. "Give my best to Granger when she wakes up."

"No, I don't think so," Slytherin said, and Tom could feel the wards around the room strengthening. Even though he couldn't control Tom anymore, there were still things he could do to stop him from leaving Hogwarts.

"You can't keep me in here forever," Tom told his ancestor.

"Hermione just killed Loki, I think she'll be more than happy to take care of you once she is awake."

Tom looked at Granger again, surprised. "How on earth did she manage that?"

"I plan to ask her, once she is awake."

As if on cue, Granger groaned and rolled over to her side, opening her eyes. She was pale, but when she saw where she was, she smiled. "It worked."

Tom felt an ill foreboding. Odin had told Granger something in those few seconds she was by the coffin. He had been tricked by an old pile of bones and a former Mudblood!

"What did you do, Hermione?" Slytherin asked, looking excited.

"I pulled all the magic from Loki and put it into the magic of Hogwarts," she said, looking a bit amazed herself that it had worked.

"That's not possible," Tom couldn't help but object. "I tried to pull the magic from him, but his shields—"

"He was using magic on me at the time. On my body," Granger interrupted him. "I agreed that he could impregnate me. Thus fulfilling the sex-oath."

Of course. Otherwise, she would have been dead now as well.

"Well done, then," Tom said sourly. It figured. Loki's weakness had been sex. He was just too interested in it. Those two Muggle girls they had seen leaving his house the first time they had met. Who would have Muggle girls around if not just for the pleasure of sex?

"So I'm pregnant now," Granger said matter-of-factly. "And something tells me it's going to stick. You don't need him around."

Tom couldn't help but smile as Slytherin looked angry.

"He has anchored his body to this world. I can't undo the spells that I did to bring him back,"

Slytherin said bitterly. "You'll have to kill him."

Tom was happy to see that Granger did not look eager at that prospect. She was not a killer, no matter what she had done to Loki.

"Can you control him?" she wondered.

"To some extent. His magic is still tied to mine, but I'm certain he will find a way around that too, given time."

Tom smirked. He planned on it.

Granger, however, was looking thoughtful. That wasn't good. She was supposed to look defeated.

"Can you take away his magic?" she asked.

The pleased expression on Slytherin's face told Tom all he needed to know. He fumbled around for his wand again, only to remember that it wasn't there. Then he was struck unconscious again.

xxx

Hermione knew Tom Riddle would be no fun to be around when he woke up and discovered that his magic had been permanently removed, so she left the Chamber of Secrets. Slytherin could deal with Riddle until the night, then she'd have to figure something out.

It wasn't right to just let him loose in the world after all the murders he had committed. At the same time, she could see no more fitting a punishment than him losing his magic. He could still be dangerous, with a criminal mind like that, but not by a long shot as dangerous as he had been.

Should she tell anyone? She had wanted to take care of him herself, without having Harry and the others worry about it. However, if she were to bring Riddle to prison or something, she'd need to tell people who he really was. They'd give him the Dementor's Kiss and that would be that.

At the same time, if they did that, she might as well kill him herself. It would be more merciful to her friends. If she turned him over to the authorities, there would be a lengthy legal process before Riddle was prosecuted. That would only open up wounds that were starting to heal now when they thought Riddle was dead.

Deciding to tell someone trustworthy, she made her way up to the castle. She wasn't sure what she was going to do now with herself either. In nine months, she would be a mother. It was not a thrilling prospect, but for the safety of the world, it had to be done. If the Serpent awoke again, there had to be someone around to stop it. She would make sure to have more children later on in life so it would be a collective burden, and not just something one child had to carry. And she didn't want any of her children to be forced to have children of their own. The more children she had, the more likely that one of them wanted to have children.

Yet, the thought of becoming a mother at this age wasn't appealing. She hadn't been able to think about the consequences before, since it had all happened so fast, but now…

She had always wanted to go to university and have a career before having children.

Well, she could still do that, she supposed. She just had to wait a few years until the child was big enough to be left with a nanny. Her friends would no doubt help her out as well. Her mum and dad…

Merlin, they'd be furious with her! First erasing their memories, sending them to Australia and then coming back pregnant, without a boyfriend?

But it would be wonderful to see them again. Now when the world was safe. The rest, they would just have to deal with.

She reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Well, that wouldn't do. If she was going to see her friends again, she couldn't look as if she had just been in another battle.

After magically cleaning herself up and mending her clothes, she finally left the bathroom.

The corridors were empty. It was the middle of the night, after all. She wondered where she should go first and decided that the Headmistress' office would be the best option. There were several things she needed someone else to know about. If anything were to happen to her, they had to know about the Serpent. Slytherin had never trusted anyone, and that had led to him having to bring back Lord freaking Voldemort!

It still had to be a secret, of course, but there were a few people she knew she could trust with her life. They could work on a contingency plan.

"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall was clearly surprised to see her when she opened the door to her office, dressed in a purple dressing gown.

"Hi, Professor. May I come in?" she asked.

"Of course. But what are you doing here in the middle of the night? And how did you enter undetected?"

"That's a long story," Hermione said, with a sigh, following McGonagall into the room, and sitting down in the seating area. "But the question of how I entered is perhaps the best place to start. I'm not sure, but I think Slytherin shielded me."

"Slytherins? How could they do that?" McGonagall asked, baffled.

"No, not students. Salazar Slytherin. He is a conscious being inside of Hogwarts and I'm his heir."

McGonagall stared at her for several seconds and then turned to one of the portraits. "Beatrice, can you ask the house-elves to bring up some tea. I believe we will be here for some time."

The plump little witch in the portrait nodded and disappeared. A minute later, a house-elf appeared.

"Kreacher," Hermione said, pleased to see the elf.

"Miss Hermione!" Kreacher squealed in delight. "Is Master Harry with Miss? Kreacher misses seeing Master Harry around Hogwarts. But Auror training is important, Kreacher knows."

"I'm afraid he isn't with me this time, Kreacher, but I'll tell him hello from you when I see him," Hermione offered.

"Thank you very much Miss!" Kreacher piped, and then disappeared again at McGonagall's stern look.

"Now then, Miss Granger," McGonagall said, pouring them both some tea. "Please start from the beginning.

Hermione did just that, trying not to leave out anything (but seriously glossing over the details of her and Loki's sexual relationship). It was starting to dawn by the time she had finished.

McGonagall was still looking both concerned and shocked. "You are certain Tom Riddle has been contained?"

Hermione nodded. "Slytherin was sure he could strip Riddle of all his magical powers. Something about how he had to use his own magic in the process of restoring Riddle's magic."

"We will have to keep a close watch on him in the future," Dumbledore chimed in, from his portrait. All the portraits had been listening in, but Dumbledore was the only one who actually commented.

"A close watch? We have to throw him in Azkaban!" McGonagall objected sharply.

Dumbledore eyed Hermione with his same old piercing expression. "I think the risks of doing that are greater than the advantages. We will have him under lock and key, but for how long? Once his followers find out he is still alive, they will break him out. With their help, he can rise to power again, with or without regaining his magical powers. No, it's better to shut him out from the magical world completely and keep an eye on him in the Muggle world."

She hadn't considered that. "Yes, and I was thinking about the fear and pain of all his victims. They are just starting to heal now. If they know he is alive, it will only reopen the wounds."

"Besides, we have only just managed to defeat the movements for capital punishment being reintroduced for the Death Eaters," Dumbledore said softly. "If they find out Tom Riddle is alive…"

He sighed. "The Ministry can't turn into murderers. Not in these unstable times, not ever again."

"You could always have him assassinated," came the sly voice of Headmaster Black.

Hermione had considered it too. If Riddle seemed to cause anymore trouble, she would see to it. But not yet. "I don't think murder is the answer."

"I quite agree," Dumbledore said. "Tom Riddle has been given a second chance. It's more than he deserves, but that's what it is."

Hermione and McGonagall sat quietly for a moment, both probably considering what they would have to do if Riddle turned out to be more trouble.

"Oh!" McGonagall suddenly gasped. "Miss Lovegood!"

Hermione looked at her, puzzled. "What about Luna?"

"She is pregnant. We only just found out. She said the father was the would-be exchange student from Sweden. That's Riddle!"

Hermione gasped, but couldn't help but feel incredibly relieved. The fate of the world wasn't hanging on just her child. There would be two of them, right from the beginning!

And she didn't have to be alone in this pregnancy.

"I had better go and talk to her," Hermione said. "She should know what's in store for the child."

"Yes, she probably should," McGonagall agreed. "She will be in the Great Hall for breakfast soon, why don't you collect her and bring her here? I will tell Professor Flitwick that she won't come to her first class."

Said and done, Hermione left the Headmistress' office and went down to the Great Hall. Luna wasn't there yet, but Ginny was, and she was ecstatic at seeing Hermione.

"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, dragging her down to sit next to her. "Have you come to finish your last year?"

"Yes, I think so," Hermione said. She and McGonagall hadn't talked about it, but it seemed like the most sensible course of action. "I just have to go down to Australia and pick up my parents first, but I hope I'll come back soon. Right now, I just have to speak with Luna."

Ginny's face fell. "Right. What happened with that Swedish boy? Please tell me he had a horrible accident. You know, with his cock."

Hermione grimaced. "He had an accident, but as far I know, his cock is still working. But I heard about Luna. That's why I need to talk to her."

"Oh. What happened?" Ginny looked worried.

"Some genetic things she needs to know. I found out when I was in Sweden." Then inspiration struck her and she leaned closer to Ginny. "I'm pregnant too."

"That bloody bastard!" Ginny gasped. "And he up and left you too?"

"Something like that, yes," Hermione said, with a sigh. It would be easier for her if people believed Riddle was the father of her child too. At least then she and Luna would have a reason to let their children spend a lot of time together. "Half-siblings". And it would save her from having to answer uncomfortable questions about the real father.

"If I ever see him again, I  _am_  going to hex his balls off," Ginny hissed.

Right then, Luna entered. Hermione excused herself from Ginny and went to greet her.

Luna didn't look pregnant. Her robe was hiding most of her figure and she seemed just as calm and untroubled as always.

"Hello Hermione," she said, the same dreamy tone Hermione was used to.

"Hi, Luna, do you mind coming with me to the Headmistress' office? We have to talk about … you know." She didn't want to say it out loud since there were a lot of students nearby, looking curiously at her.

"Okay," Luna said. "I expected them to call me. I will be sad to leave Hogwarts, but I have never seen any other pregnant witch here."

It took Hermione a second to realise that Luna thought she was being expelled. "What? No! I mean, it's not common, but they can't expel you for something like that. And for the rest of the year, there will be two pregnant witches at Hogwarts. If anyone tries to give you a hard time for it, I will be right there next to you."

"You too, then?" Luna asked, looking mildly surprised. "Yes, Tom is very charming."

"Charming or not, there are a few things you have to know about him. But don't worry, we will go through this together," Hermione said, putting an arm around Luna. It was as much for her own sake as for Luna.

Neither of them would have to be single mothers. They may not be a couple, but they would be in this together. Raising Slytherin's new heirs.

xxx

Tom had been staring at his useless, magicless hands the whole day. Slytherin had tried to coax him into eating, but he had no appetite. He felt empty. The spark of magic inside of him had been like a second heart. Now it was quiet.

At first, he hadn't wanted to believe it, thinking that his powers were only blocked, not gone. But as more time passed, he started to realise the truth. There was nothing there to be blocked. It shouldn't have been possible, but Slytherin had managed to remove his magic. Completely.

"Is he still feeling sorry for himself?" Granger's voice rang through the room, but he didn't bother looking up.

"Yes, it's the pity-party of the year," Slytherin muttered.

Granger sighed and came over to him, waving a hand before his face. "Come on, Riddle. I could have killed you, but I didn't. What would you rather be, dead or without magic?"

Before, the answer would have been obvious to him. There was nothing worse than death. But now … this feeling …

Granger slapped him. The sudden pain made him fly up, growling.

"There we go," she said cheerfully. "You have been given a second chance. It's more than you deserve, so don't screw it up. I'm going to collect my parents in Australia, and if you ever want to leave this place, you are going to come with me. If you want to, you can take over their place down there. You'll have to find a job on your own, though. But don't even think about becoming a criminal. Even though you will be free, we will keep you under surveillance, and you'll never know when someone is looking."

He glared at her, but didn't say anything. Leaving this place was good, he recognised that. He may not know what to do with himself, but anything was better than staying here. Close to all things magical, but not a part of it.

And he had thought he had known what it felt like to be an outsider when he was young. He scoffed.

"Other than that, you are free to do whatever you want," Granger continued. "I'll come and visit, now and then. Make sure you behave."

"I never want to see you again," he hissed. He wanted to kill her. Murder her slowly, and painfully. If he couldn't do that, he would rather not see her at all.

"Sure you do. You'll want to hear news about your niece or nephew. Not to mention your own child."

Tom's mouth fell open. His what?


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ozzy! My beta, my love, thank you so, so much for working so hard to help me with the betaing! Couldn't have done it without you!
> 
> A/N at the end.

**Epilogue**

_5 years later_

Hermione knocked on the door to Riddle's flat, or "Abbott", as he went by in Australia. An ordinary name that wouldn't draw much attention to him. She had a special knocking sequence reserved just for him. He knew it and probably hated it. It was fun to tease him.

Riddle opened the door a moment later, glaring at her. "Granger."

"Brother, dear," Hermione said happily. "It's that time of the year again."

"As I have dreaded," he said, rolling his eyes. "Come in."

He was looking better than he had the first few years in Australia. Losing his magic had pushed him into a serious depression. She wasn't sure how he had come out of it, and didn't really care. Perhaps he had decided that death really was the worst thing that could happen after all, and found the strength to actually live.

Either way, now he kept a healthy figure and even had a tan. That was something she had thought was impossible with his pale complexion, but Australia did that to you. Even her normally pale mother had been several shades darker when she had first met her.

As she had expected, they had been angry. The first few months, every meeting had been tense and ended in fights. But when her pregnancy began to show, her parents seem to decide to go easy on her. By the time Rose was born, they had got over their anger.

"I'm heading out tonight, so we'll have to make this quick," Riddle told her, as she made her way to his kitchen. She knew better than to expect him to offer anything to her, but she was thirsty. The flight to here was long, even on a broom.

"You always say that," she reminded him, getting a water bottle out of the fridge. "So how are you?"

Riddle shrugged, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. "Muggle."

"Not found a way around that yet?"

"Actually, I have, and I want you to know it so you can stop me."

She snorted and sat down at his kitchen table. "Right. How is the library?"

He had been working at a library for the past three years. The ones monitoring him had said that he had no magical contact through it, but Hermione couldn't understand what Riddle found so interesting in a library.

"Good. But since you'll no doubt find out soon, I may as well tell you. I'm getting into politics."

Hermione frowned in suspicion. "Muggle politics?"

"Clearly. I've read all about them. I'm certain I'm more competent than anyone else," he said calmly.

"And more corrupt."

"Yes, but you know I can't do anything illegal. It's just a hobby. I miss bossing people around." He smiled sweetly and came over to sit at the opposite side of her, at the kitchen table.

"Will you try to become a prime minister or something?" she asked, worried.

He shrugged. "Probably not. Maybe an adviser. But enough about me, what are you doing with your time?"

She was surprised, and worried, about the change of subject. Riddle usually never asked about her. "I'm working at the Ministry. I'm a secretary in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Just got transferred."

Riddle snorted. "Why am I not surprised? How is Luna?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Luna was the only one I didn't mind spending time with," Riddle said softly. "And she is the mother of my son."

"Luna is fine," Hermione said carefully. "She spends a lot of time with the children and works part-time with her father's newspaper."

"You are still living together?"

"Yes."

Ever since they had left Hogwarts, Hermione and Luna had lived together in different places. Ginny had lived with them for a time as well, but as soon as her engagement to Harry became official, she moved in with him. For someone as logical as Hermione, it had been hard to live with someone as peculiar as Luna. However, with the children, she often didn't have time to notice. It was a very good arrangement. Even though Hermione didn't care for when Luna took over the kitchen table to plan a new trip to discover a fictional creature, it was worth it just to have someone else there when both the kids had a stomach flu.

"Are you fucking?" Riddle asked.

Hermione sighed. That was something a lot of people had asked, if not as directly as Riddle.

"No, we aren't. I can't say for Luna, but I'm heterosexual. Are you fucking anyone?" she asked, wanting to turn the conversation back to him. Even though the people monitoring him (they didn't know exactly who he was, just that he was dangerous) hadn't mentioned anything suspicious about his activities, she wanted to question him herself. She knew him the best.

"I fuck a lot, but no one worth remembering the name of," he said uninterested. "How is Lysander?"

"Healthy and strong. He and Rose have already started speaking Parseltongue."

A flash of something went through his eyes. Was it longing? She realised she didn't know if he could still speak with snakes.

"Can I meet him one day?" he asked, his voice careful.

Hermione regarded him closely. Was it possible that he wanted to have contact with his son? Or did he want to use the boy for something?

"We'll see. When he is older and knows the whole truth, he can decided for himself if he wants to meet you. But you'll have to be ready to meet Rose too. We have told everyone you are her father as well." Even Luna thought that was the case.

"You don't want to tell her the truth?" Riddle asked, surprised.

"Not unless I have to. It's bad enough she thinks you are the father. If she finds out about Loki…" she trailed off.

"She's not displaying any … unnatural talents, then?"

"No," Hermione said softly. "And I don't think she will. He never went through with the spell changing her DNA, I took the magic from him before that."

"What a shame," Riddle said. "It would have been interesting to see what he could have come up with."

Hermione glared at him darkly. "No, it wouldn't."

Riddle shrugged. "If you say so. But if you agree to let Lysander see me – if he wants to, of course – then I'll pretend to be Rose's father as well. I'm her uncle, its close enough."

She wasn't sure what he was planning, wanting to see the children, but it would be many years before that could happen. Lysander and Rose were only four and as far as they knew, they only had two mummies and no daddy at all. No doubt they'd start asking questions, and she and Luna had agreed to tell them the truth, but in portions.

It was possible he was just curious. However, she was quite certain he wanted to influence them so he could get a foot into the magical world again. She would not let that happen. She would make sure the children were clever enough to see through his manipulations if they wanted to meet him.

Just like Jörmungandr, Riddle was a serpent that had been contained and would stay contained. That was something she, the heir of Slytherin, would make sure remained the case.

**The End**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are, folks! Final chapter!
> 
> I want to thank everyone who have read, reviewed, faved and subscribed this story! This was a really special story for me, that has been growing in my mind for a long time, even before I wrote Shared Flame. But it just didn't come together until now.
> 
> For those of you who have missed the Tom/Hermione-action, fear not, I am writing on a new story. It will of course take some time before I start posting, but it's coming there. Thus far, it's called The Dragon Chronicles and is based on a drabble Nerys wrote a few months ago, called "Extra". If you are curios, check it out here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7885349/20/The-Forbidden-Ship
> 
> I'm also writing on a Remus/Hermione story, but I'm not sure which one I'll publish first, or if I'll publish this one at all. Depends on if I manage to finish it.
> 
> Until then,
> 
> Miya


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